A Badger and A Snake: First Meetings
by ArtemisAngel827
Summary: An aspiring seeker; who wants nothing more than to see her friends happy. A quiet reader; terrified that everyone will leave her. Two children of war heroes; reaching out across the houses. Four students, entering the school of their parents to try and fight for themselves.
1. An Uncommon Meeting

**VIOLET'S POV**

My mother had only stepped away from me for a second and I was already completely lost in the store. I had to stop and look around at everything I was seeing once again; I still couldn't grasp the idea that I was actually magical. I had lived all my life thinking I was just normal, but now I'm actually about to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tomorrow. All I have left to get are all of my books and then, my wand. I wandered around the store until I found an area that seemed like it had the books on the list for first years. I saw most of the books on my list scattered around on the shelves, and scrambled to grab them before anyone else could take them. I was still missing one book however, and had to stop to look around for where it could possibly be.  
"Aha. I see you..." I whispered to myself, walking over to the last book. However, I didn't see the body that sat right where I was walking. My foot jammed against their side and I fell forward, my books flying everywhere.  
"Ouch!" The girl that I had tripped over cried out, rubbing her head where one of my books had hit her.  
"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there. Are you okay?" I was really worried about her; I didn't want to hurt someone I had barely known.  
She brushed her hand down her jeans. "People tend to do that." She mumbled. I was barely able to hear her. "But I'm fine."  
"Are you sure? I just wanted to get this one book." I helped her up to her feet. "I'm Violet. Violet Langston. I'm about to start my first year at Hogwarts. What about you?"  
She nodded. "My name is Melissa Brook. I'm starting my first year there too."  
I reached forward to grab _Hogwarts, A History_. "This was the book I needed to get. All I have left to do is to go and get my wand."  
Her eyes widened as she read the title. "I was just reading that. I love learning about history; I swear that I've read that book twenty times over." She smiled, the first time since I'd meet her. "I have to get my wand as well. But I have to wait until my father returns before I can go." Her eyes flickered over my head as she searched the crowd of people that had formed a bubble around us.  
I was amazed; she had read this entire book _twenty times_? I could never have the patience to do that. "That's fine. Do you want to go and get our wands together? I'm fine with waiting. My mom said she's ready to leave as soon as I go up to her. She's sitting over there, in that corner." I had seen my mom in the corner of my eye and pointed her out to Melissa. Her eyes followed my finger until she saw my mom.  
"I don't know if that's a very good idea." She bit her bottom lip. "My father keeps on a rather strict schedule."  
"How so? I think they should meet. I mean, we are going to be friends right?" I didn't know why she was acting so nervous. It was as if there was something wrong that she wasn't telling me about.  
"Melissa?" A deep voice broke through our conversation. "Who is this?" She visibly shrunk down slightly, though her head remained high.  
"Hi! I'm Violet. I just met your daughter after accidentally falling over her. But she's okay. Wow you're tall. How tall are you? Did you go to Hogwarts? Oh you should meet my mom! I know you guys will be great friends. HEY MOM COME OVER HERE! Do you mind if Melissa and I go to get our wands together?" His eyes blinked in response to the speed I had just asked all of the questions.  
"I would appreciate it if my daughter spoke for herself." He turned towards her. "Are you alright Melissa?"  
She nodded. "I'm fine Father. This is Violet." She gestured towards me, as I gave her father a big smile. "Can we go get our wands together? It would be nice to get to know someone new."  
His mouth opened to respond, but my mother had just arrived.  
"Violet, what's the matter? Why did you practically yell at me across the store? We've been over this before; if you need me, come _walk over to me_. Do not yell across the store." She was shorter than Melissa's father, even though she was already quite tall.  
"I'm sorry Mom." I quickly forgot all that she had just told me (once again) and started to ask her more questions. "So anyways, I found all of my books! After tripping over her." I pointed to Melissa, who waved. "Her name is Melissa Brook. She's okay though. But she's quiet. I'm going to change that. No one is ever quiet around me! But anyways, can we go get our wands together? This is Melissa's dad by the way. You guys can talk on the way to Ollivanders. So can we go?" I was bouncing up and down on my toes.  
My mom turned to look at Melissa's dad. "I'm sorry for my daughters inability to have a proper introduction. I'm Mrs. Langston." She held out her hand to shake.  
Melissa's dad took it delicately. "Good to meet you. I'm Mr. Brook, Melissa's father." He turned back to look at Melissa. "Do you wish to go with Violet to get your wand? I must get your cauldron; I would be doing that as you got your wand."  
Melissa smiled. "Yes Father. And I think that's a good plan; it saves time."  
I was actually jumping up and down at this point. "Does this mean yes? Can we go? Please? Now? I'm really excited for this!"  
My mom smiled warmly at me. "Since Melissa's father is fine with it, I am as well."  
"Yesss!" I ran up and hugged my mom, then Melissa's dad. He stood there rather stiffly as I hugged him. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" I then dropped all of my books into my mom's arms; hugged her once again, and was ready to go. I grabbed Melissa's arm and started running out of the store, shouting another "Thanks!" on the way out.  
"Wait for me!" My mother called, and Melissa pulled me to a stop.  
"It was clear you weren't stopping on your own. Too much force. You would have fallen." I crossed my arms. It took five minutes for my mom to leave the store. Didn't she know how important this was? This was no time to take _five minutes_ to leave the store!  
She handed Melissa a small bag. "This is from your father to buy your wand with." She tucked it into her belt loop, tying it in a small knot.  
"Now let's go!" I tugged Melissa's arm again, and when she stayed put, I dropped her arm. "Fine. Suit yourself. I'm going to go get my wand!" I burst with speed as I sped down the street, weaving in and out of different witches and wizards until I reached Ollivanders. Melissa arrived beside me a second later. She was smiling.  
"You're not the only one who can run. Your mother said we can go inside and then she'll come in when you need to pay for your wand."  
I was practically bursting with anticipation. "Well then come on, let's go!" I ran into the store to only find a long line of other children, all waiting to get their wands. None of them seemed slightly excited. How could they not be excited for their _wands_?  
"I think they're nervous." Melissa whispered, eyeing the other children. "I hope they don't take too long."  
"Ugh I don't want to wait in line for this!" I saw an old box and stood up on it. "Who here is nervous for their wands?" Most of the children in line looked surprised, but raised their hands. Melissa hit herself on the head in embarrassment. "Alright step to the left. Now, who here is excited for their wands?" A very small amount of people raised their hands, and Melissa sheepishly raised hers. "Alright stay where you are. Excited people go first, because we won't take as long, and nervous people go after. That way things will go faster and everyone will be happy!" I stepped down from the box, to only find all of them staring at me. "Carry on now! Go go go! I have a wand to get and I don't want to wait for all of you guys!"  
The line moved a lot quicker after that. It took about thirty minutes for Melissa and I to reach Ollivander.  
He smiled at me. "I like what you did back there. Very helpful."  
I smiled back at him, about to start jumping up and down again. "Can I please have my wand now? I've been waiting for so long!"  
A small tape measure zipped out and began measuring me. Melissa's eyes followed Olivander as he disappeared into the hallway filled with wand boxes. He returned with five. "Now, let's see how this wand is for you."  
I waved the first wand around, to only find it fly out of my hands and hit a lamp behind him, shattering it to pieces. Melissa giggled. "Oops" I muttered.  
"It's fine." He carefully took the wand back and handed me another.  
I held the wand to only have it burn me. "Ouch!" I rubbed my hand, trying to soothe the burn.  
"Nope, not that one." He mumbled, taking it back. "Try this one."  
I cautiously reached out for the third wand. This time though, it didn't burn me or fly out of my hands. It felt perfect for me, like it was part of me. I waved it around, and a few sparkles followed where I waved. "It's beautiful! What kind is it?"  
"Vine, dragon scale, flexible, 11 inches." He took it back from me and placed it back in the box. "Nine galleons."  
I was so excited, I could hardly wait. "Alright, let me just go and get my mom." I ran outside, to find my mom waiting for me with the nine galleons already in her hand. "Thanks mom!" I grabbed the galleons and ran back inside, handed him the money, and took my wand. "Alright Melissa now it's your turn!"  
Ollivander turned towards her. "Ah, Miss Brook. I remember you from when your brother came for his wand. Here for your own wand, I assume?" She nodded shyly. The tape measure began to jump around her. Ollivander disappeared again again.  
"You have a brother?" I asked her randomly.  
She nodded, a expression of disgust filling her face. "Yes; Richard. He's about two years older than me, third year right now. I came with him to get his wand when he was eleven."  
Ollivander re-appeared with only one box in his hands. "I have a strong feeling about this." We watched carefully as he lifted the lid and handed Melissa a wand. Immediately, her face brightened and her arm shivered.  
"Wow." She whispered.  
He took it back from her, repackaging it. "Pine, phoenix core, slightly springy, 10½ inches." He handed her the box, which she took gingerly. "11 galleons." The coins clicked into his hand.  
We walked out, wand boxes in our hands, excitedly talking about our wands and Hogwarts. We were happy that is, until we saw our parents. My mom looked uncomfortable, Melissa's father looked... well rather angry and disgusted. Our smiles vanished quickly.  
She approached him slowly. "Father?" She held out the money. "The wand cost 11 galleons."  
His hand shot out and grabbed it. "Are you prepared to leave? I've just discovered something rather, unpleasant about Violet's family."  
"Woah there Mr. Grumpypants. There's nothing wrong with my family. We're happy together! So what happened that is 'unpleasant' to my family?" I didn't like it when he said bad things about me or my family. It bothered me.  
He pulled Melissa behind him. "Your father is a muggle." His face contorted, even though he tried to remain composed. "I'm sorry, but I find that rather uncomfortable."  
Anger bubbled up inside of me. "OH NO YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT. My father is the most amazing man ever. He may be a muggle, but that doesn't change anything about me. You don't need to treat me as if I'm a person with some kind of a deadly virus that will infect you and all of your family. He is a really smart muggle. He is a scientist. Now, my father and I are really close so when you insulted him that wasn't very nice. How would you like it if I pulled my mom away and said 'Get away from them Mother, they're all Purebloods.' Now that isn't very nice now is it? You should apologize and change your ways."  
He stepped away, Melissa not moving. She looked very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, my dear. But I am not changing my ways. I respect your family's choices, and I ask that you respect mine's. Now come along Melissa. I must return to the office."  
I gave Melissa's father one of my worst glares ever, then had to shout, "MUGGLES AREN'T TERRIBLE PEOPLE YOU... YOU GRUMPYPANTS!" An idea then popped into my head, as to how to make him uncomfortable. I ran up to Melissa's father, and gave him a humongous hug. He looked incredibly uncomfortable. "What, don't like hugs? You should learn to like them." I turned to Melissa. "See you tomorrow at Platform 9 ¾!"  
She smiled at me. "See you then. But please, don't hug my father any more. He truly does not like hugs. Even from me." Her father then pulled her away and they vanished into the crowd.

**MELISSA'S POV**

My mother hugged me goodbye outside the brick wall that lead to Platform 9 ¾. Only I and Richard were going in, for my father was too busy and my mother didn't like crowds.  
"Come on Melissa!" Richard called from the wall. He was sitting on his trunk, looking bored out of his mind waiting for me. "I don't want to be late!"  
Mother turned towards him, her hands on her hips. "You have about an hour before the train leaves Richard. You can let me have time to say goodbye to Melissa." With a smile on her face, she approached him. "Now give your mother a hug." Richard accepted the hug rather like Father would, arms held stiffly by his side. I giggled silently, but stopped as he gave me a death glare.  
He pulled away from Mother, picking up his trunk. "Come on Melissa. I'll help you find a compartment. Bye Mother."  
I struggled to pick up my trunk. Richard rolled his eyes. "I told you that you shouldn't have brought so many books. There is a library at Hogwarts, you know."  
The trunk managed to slide across the floor. I deemed that good enough. "You can stop hurrying me a long, Richard. I'm ready."  
Richard literally bounced up. "Well, then let's go!" He pushed himself through the brick wall, disappearing to the other side. I hugged my mother one last time before vanishing as well, closing my eyes as the darkness overwhelmed me for a moment. There was the feeling of water rushing over me before I emerged at the station platform.  
Richard didn't take any extra time helping me get onto the train. He only lifted my trunk onto the train and told me to find an empty compartment before he vanished into the crowd.  
I sighed before beginning to pull my trunk down the hall. There was hardly anyone inside the train, but almost every compartment already had a person in it. I managed to find one in the center of the train. I didn't bother trying to lift the trunk into the space above the seats; if I couldn't lift the trunk there was no chance I would be able to raise it above my head.  
The soft meow of Grace caused me to turn and open her bag. Her small dark nose poked out and sniffed the air. I stroked her head before leaning against the window and peering out, watching as the platform began to fill up with people. It was almost time for the train to leave, yet no sign of Violet. I began to get worried that she had gotten sick, or had already came but didn't come sit with me. I didn't want to have to spend the train ride alone. Even if I didn't particularly like people, being alone was worse. I heard a loud noise coming from outside of the compartment. I was about to go outside to see what it was, when in came Violet, out of breath.  
"Hi Melissa. Wow I can't believe my mother. She got the wrong train station. Can you believe her? Whew. Wow. Man I'm tired. I ran all the way here." Every few words she paused to take a deep breath. She plopped down on the seats across from me, dropping her trunks on the ground. I heard an angry hiss come from one of her trunks.  
"Oh! I'm sorry Snowball! Come here." I saw her pull out an all black cat out of her trunk, with one white ear and nose. Suits her personality to name her cat the complete opposite of what it is.  
"Hey Violet." I pushed myself away from the window. "I see you have a cat." Grace meowed.  
"Yup! I see you have one too." At that precise moment, two more people came running into our compartment. They both had red hair, looking similar but clearly not brother and sister.  
"Can we sit with you?" The girl asked, smiling at us. "We left our stuff with our family, but they kicked us out of their compartment."  
I pulled Grace into my lap. "Um...Sure. I'm Melissa."  
Violet started bouncing up and down again, as usual. She seemed to do that alot. "I'm Violet. Violet Langston. I like your hair! It's a very beautiful shade of red. Are you first years too? We both are. What houses do you want to be in? I want to be in Hufflepuff! And become the best Seeker there ever was at this school! I plan to even beat the famous Harry Potter!"  
"He's my dad." The girl said. Both of our mouths dropped open in surprise.  
"What?" I whispered. I had spent so long reading about Harry Potter; he had hundreds of books dedicated to him. I had known he had children, but I didn't realize that one would have been in my year.  
"Yeah. I'm Lily, by the way."  
"No. Way." Violet seemed incredibly shocked. "Can I meet him? I want to ask him so many things about Seeking. Is that a verb? Seeking? Eh whatever. But wow! Oh and Lily! Named after his mom! That's so sweet! I'm named after my mother's favorite flower. Oh and by the way, I tend to do this a lot. You know, talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. But you'll get used to it."  
I smiled at the boy. "I'm so sorry. What's your name?" Both of them looked awkward, but he looked the most.  
"Hugo."  
"NO WAY! You're Ron Weasley's son! That's amazing! What's it-" Violet's words got muffled as I put my hand over her mouth.  
"That's an amazing name. I'm so sorry about her. I hardly know her. We met yesterday at Diagon Alley." The two sat down. "If she made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry."  
"It's okay. I have a feeling we're going to have to get used to it." Hugo pointed towards Grace. "Is that your cat?"  
Grace meowed sweetly. "Yeah. Do you want to hold her?" He nodded eagerly and I handed Grace to him. I turned to look at Violet. "Do you promise to calm down?"  
She nodded her head. I let go of her mouth, hoping she would calm down.  
"Wow that was the quietest I've ever been in a long time. Why would you do that to me-oh... I get it now.. I'm sorry for being scary... I just get really excited.. a lot."  
Lily smiled at her. "Its fine. I'm really excited too; Mom told me I had to work on calming down." She pet Grace's head. "I'm not succeeding that well right now in keeping it in."  
"I think we'll be great friends! I'm really excitable, you're really excitable. She's quiet, he's quiet. We're all perfect for eachother!"  
Hugo smiled at me."Which house do you want to be in?"  
I didn't want to say. It was the house of my father, the house of my brother. The house I desperately wanted to get into, even if my mother told me I didn't have to. "Slytherin." I said it quietly, embarrassed.  
"Woah, I didn't know you wanted to get into Slytherin! That's so cool! I want to get into Hufflepuff; obviously. I think I would be perfect for that house!" Violet chimed in. I was surprised she wasn't scared or anything since I said I wanted to get into the house most people hated. Most people usually ran away.  
Hugo and Lily looked between me and Violet, sensing my nervousness. "We want to get in Gryffindor, like our parents."  
Violet suddenly looked towards the door. She seemed scared, and backed away as close to the window as she could.  
"Why, if it isn't the energetic halfblood?" We all turned to the doorway to only find the friend Richard had brought to the house that summer.  
"Please go away Scorpius." Violet seemed really scared of him for some reason. She was really quiet, and was hardly moving at all. Something wasn't right.  
He leaned against the doorway. "I don't feel like doing that. This is quite fun. Did you frighten the Potter girl and the Weasley boy?" He said it all rather sing-songily.  
I took a deep breath. "Leave her alone Scorpius."  
He smirked at me. "No thanks."  
"Leave her Scorpius." My brother's voice came from behind him. Scorpius turned to look at him in surprise. "She's not worth getting in trouble."  
Violet seemed to snap back to normal again. "I'm not worthit? I'm not _worth _it? Who are you to say that? I'm worth so much more than you. Now stop being mean to me. Or else."  
"Can't you see that I'm trying to help you?" My brother's voice sounded annoyed. "Come on Scorpius, you heard her." With a sneer, Scorpius left. My brother stayed for a moment.  
"I'm sorry about that." He told Violet. "He's working on being nicer."  
Violet seemed to calm down a bit. "Well, he should try harder. He's been mean to me ever since he ran into me at Diagon Alley. I thought we could be friends but.. he was like that to me."  
Richard then left; off to his own compartment I assumed. I thought Scorpius seemed rather nice when he came over this summer. He wasn't terrible looking, and my father would have approved; he was pureblood. At this point I wasn't sure anymore. He seemed much nicer around my family.  
We all joked around after that, Violet back to her normal energetic ways, and found that everyone had something in common. I however, tended to drift towards Hugo more, and Violet talked to Lily more. I found out that Hugo was rather nice, and really wanted to be an Auror when he grew up.  
When the sweet trolley rolled around, I took the liberty of buying everyone sweets. My father had handed me a small bag of coins, a twinkle in his eyes as he told me to use them on the train. There were times when my father was like that, a man who discreetly told me to buy candy. And then there were others when my father was disgusted at muggles and anyone who associated with them.  
After the four of us had enjoyed all the Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans we could stomach, we drifted together into pairs. Grace curled up in between Hugo and I, the two of us taking turns rubbing her behind her ears. Lily and Violet were in the process of having a very animated conversation while Hugo and I exchanged books; a hobby that I found we both shared.  
"So," Hugo flipped through the book I had handed him, "you seemed nervous when you told us you wanted to get into Slytherin. Why? You should have known that we wouldn't judge you for it?"  
I stiffened, glancing over at Violet and Lily. This wasn't a conversation I wanted to have where they could input.  
"Every time I've mentioned it to people other than my family, they've all shyed away. My mother even warned me to be careful when mentioning it to people. I didn't want to lose the people I'd just met." Grace yawned slightly and I pet her head so that I didn't have to look at Hugo.  
"Hey guys, look! Look at that! It's Hogwarts!" I heard Violet's exclamation, and ran over to the window. The castle loomed out towards us, with towers that stretched towards the skies and a shadow that covered the lake. It was still in the distance, but when we looked carefully we could see a few windows that were already lit by candles.  
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh I can't believe it! We're finally here! I'm so excited!" Violet was jumping up and down in her seat. Lily was as well. It would be very hard for me to keep them calm.  
I shoved Hugo slightly. "We have to get changed. Go somewhere else." Hugo blushed, then walked out of the compartment, closing the door behind him. We all changed into our robes, and at that moment we felt the train stop. My heart pounded with excitement. But then worry cascaded over it and I glanced nervously at Lily and Violet. I desperately hoped they wouldn't leave me like everybody else.  
"Come on, let's go!" Lily pulled me and Violet along with her, to only find Hugo waiting outside our compartment. Violet grabbed his arm and pulled him along with us.  
"Wait! We need to bring our stuff to the platform." I was very worried about my things; what would I do without my books? Violet and Lily sighed, but they helped me get my things down from the shelves as I held Grace and watched. Why did I have to be so short? After they helped me get my things down, they proceeded to get theirs down as quickly as they could. As soon as we got everything, they grabbed my arm again and we somehow managed to get off of the train without losing anything. Standing off the train made everything seem more real...more beautiful...more magical. I somehow snapped out of it as I saw an enormous figure appear on a boat. I instantly shrank down, terrified about what it was. I had thought monsters were kept out of Hogwarts; what was the thing in front of me then?  
The monster spoke. "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!"

**A/N: This is a fanfic that is written by two.. yes TWO people! So don't give all the credit to just one person! It is written by... *trumpet music blaring* hunterofartemis08 and LilAngel927! This is LilAngel speaking. **  
_**Now this is hunterofartemis08.**_  
**I hope you enjoy our story! We'll hopefully upload another one by... hmm next week? Sure next week. But tell us how you like it so far! Review!**  
_**Thank you so much for reading this! Um...she said everything else. So...bye!**_


	2. Stalker and Savior

**MELISSA'S POV**

"Who's that?" I whispered to Hugo, hoping that he had some idea who it was. The monster held a lamp in the air, squinting down at us.  
He shrugged. "My sister said that the groundskeeper would come to pick us up from the station; I can only assume this is who that is."  
The monster's face brightened as he saw Violet. "Yer Sapphy's daughter!"  
Violet looked slightly worried, but nonetheless brave and excited. "Yes I am. And who are you? How do you know my mom? Where's the groundskeeper? How long till we go into the school?"  
The monster laughed. "I'm Hagrid, the groundskeeper. Yer mother was one of my fav'rite students; always came to visit me and help with the animals. We'll be gettin' there in a few minutes." The monster adjusted his lamp so we could all see his face. I saw that he wasn't a monster; just an extremely large man. His face was almost completely covered in hair, but I could just see sparkling eyes buried under the hair.  
"Now come along then. Can't have ye waitin' for McGonagall. Into the boats." He gestured to a long line of boats behind him. I could have sworn that they weren't there a minute ago. I looked at my new friends and we all got into the same boat- and it just happened to be the boat that Hagrid picked to lead. The school looked magnificent up close. We finally reached the other side of the lake and got off the boats.  
Hagrid spoke once more. "Now yer things will be taken care of. Come on then. E'ryone inside. It's time for ye to get yer first taste o' Hogwarts."  
We all shuffled inside in one big mob of students, all anxious for what we would see and learn. Well, most of us anyways. I saw Scorpius looking like he was already planning something completely sneaky. I quickly turned my attention away from him again- Hogwarts was waiting for us. Inside were beautiful paintings that waved to us, many staircases that stretched above our heads and what seemed like hundreds of students all looking for their friends. We were approached by something that I had never seen before; in fact I didn't realize I was looking at it in the first place!  
"Hello everyone! Nearly Headless Nick, at your service." I couldn't believe it. It was a ghost. As he was bowing, he pulled his head off- wait no. Not all the way off. Just mostly off. I shuddered. Were there more ghosts at school? I never liked the idea of ghosts.  
"Now come along then First Years. It is time for you to be sorted!" He somehow ushered us to one large staircase, which to my amazement, moved up to another place. I could have stood there forever, but Hugo pulled my arm, signaling that we had to go. I shook my head and quickly caught up to the rest of the group, all waiting outside two large doors. There was a short man standing there, putting all of us in alphabetical order. I had to leave the rest of my friends and go stand at the front of the line. I happened to be the very first person in line; I guess there were no last names beginning with an A. Why did I have to go first? I glanced back at the rest of the line and found Violet giving me thumbs up. I waved at her before turning back and taking a deep breath.  
The doors swung open before us and I found myself blinded by thousands of candles that floated in the air. Everyone in the hall turned to look at us, making my face burn red. I saw my brother smiling at me. He waved slightly when he saw me looking.  
The short man lead us to the front. He signaled for me to stop before walking to stand in front of a large table filled with adults who smiled down at us. There was a raggedy hat sitting on the center of a stool, with a scroll next to it. The man picked up the scroll and shook it out before clearing his throat.  
"Brook, Melissa!" I shakily took a step to the hat, which the man now had in his hand. I sat on the stool and immediately the hall vanished from my view as the hat covered my eyes.  
_"Oh, the Brook girl. Your brother was fun to sort. He was so certain he was a Slytherin that he refused to listen when I told him he might be good for Gryffindor. I just let him go where he wanted. Do you have any preferences? It tends to run in the family."_ A voice whispered in my ear, making me shiver.  
_Slytherin._  
_"Oh, you're like your brother. If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to be in Slytherin? You don't need to simply follow what your brother and father did. Your mother is a perfectly suitable person to follow in the footsteps of."_  
_I can't say._  
But even though I tried not to, the reason was pulled from my head into a place where the hat could hear it.  
_"You know, Slytherin isn't the house for evil. Plenty of good wizards and witches have come from Slytherin. But the only other house that could fit you is Ravenclaw, however that's a stretch. You wouldn't be happy there. You are creative like Ravenclaws, but it's not the same. You have a different type. The type that was found in only one of the founders of Hogwarts. I have a feeling that the only place you can reach your full potential is in SLYTHERIN!"_  
The hat shouted the last word, as the table that my brother was sitting at erupted in cheers and shouts. My brother's voice was the loudest. I heard clapping as I walked over to the table. I turned around to find Violet, Hugo and Lily and slightly waved at them. They seemed happy for me.  
Richard shoved the person beside him aside so that I could sit next to him, something I was glad for. With a small smile on my face, I watched as the rest of the first years were sorted, glad that my turn was over.

**VIOLET'S POV**

"Langston, Violet!" The little man shouted out my name. It took _forever_ for my name to get called. I was so excited for this moment. I practically ran up to the chair, bouncing up and down as the hat was put on my head.  
_"Why hello. I remember your mother's sorting quite well. She was a very fun one to sort; she was so excited she didn't care where she was put in. I see you are the same way. Now... where to put you. Plenty of energy, brave, loyal to your friends... Where would you like to be put?"_  
I didn't hesitate a bit._ Hufflepuff. I would love to be sorted into Hufflepuff. I want to be a Seeker! A better Seeker than Harry Potter! I'll be famous! Now, what are you? How are you speaking? Am I just dreaming? This is so cool! How old are you?_  
The hat seemed to laugh a bit. _"Yes, just like your mother. Now, Hufflepuff seems like a great choice for you, however you would be good in Gryffindor. I'm a Sorting hat. Just a normal hat, just enchanted to.. well sort people into their houses based on who they are as a person. I can talk through your head by a bit of advanced magic that the original Headmaster casted. No you are not dreaming. Yes it is quite cool. I am as old as Hogwarts. I am quite clear on where you should be placed now, because you will reach your fullest potential in HUFFLEPUFF!"_  
I couldn't believe it. I got sorted into the house that I wanted to go to. But before the hat was lifted off of my head, I quickly thought, _I'll come back to you- I have many more questions._ The hat seemed to smile at me as I walked down to the table that was still screaming and cheering. I saw Melissa looking really happy for me from her table, and Lily jumping up and down. Hugo was just looking at Melissa. He's very weird... and quiet. Perfect for Melissa. I'd work on that later... but for now, I just had to figure out how long this will last.  
I watched, bored out of my mind as the rest of the line went up. Both Hugo and Lily were placed in Gryffindor. I was happy for them, I really was, I just wished that one of them (more specifically, Lily) had gotten put into Hufflepuff. There weren't as many new Hufflepuffs as I had hoped there would be- only twenty four. And none of them seemed as happy about it as I did. With the exception of one person, a really tall guy with the name Lance Bongardo who seemed really excited to be put into it. He was tall. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Tanish skin. Just like a normal wizard. He kept on looking at me though. It was kind of creepy. I tried not to look at him for the rest of the night. Suddenly a woman sitting in the middle of all the teachers stood up, and the entire room became silent almost immediately. I wondered who she was. She must be important if she could make the entire hall silent.  
"Settle down everyone, settle down. I am McGonagall, Headmaster of Hogwarts. We have an incredibly busy year ahead of us, with the largest group of First years there has ever been here. We have two new teachers this year, with Professor Sorna being here for Transfiguration." She gestured to a young woman, who stood up. She was average height, pale blond hair and grey eyes. She nodded at us and sat down again. "And Professor Martsworth for Defense against the Dark Arts" A really tall man stood up. He had dark black hair, and seemingly the same color eyes. He glared at all of us and sat down again. "Now, all of your things are in your rooms already. I am guessing you would like to go see where you're staying at right? There have been slight changes to your passwords, so see your Prefect for what it is. Now, off you go! And have a tremendous year here at Hogwarts." She sat down again, and I immediately stood up. I took one last glance at all of my new friends before joining the Hufflepuffs to my new house.  
All of us were following our Prefect, James Yarmly, in one large mob. I found myself looking more and more at the area around us, and didn't notice the people around me. That other Hufflepuff, Lance, happened to walk up next to me.  
"Hey. Your name is Violet right?"  
My heart raced a little bit. I didn't know who he was, but he somehow knew me. "How do you know who I am? Why have you been staring at me? Who are you really? Are you Italian? You seem Italian. You seem about as excited about this as I am, which is weird. People are never as excited as I am. Who are you?"  
He laughed and lightly touched my arm. I quickly shrugged it off, as he looked surprised. Maybe even a little hurt. "I know your name because I saw you get sorted. So I heard your name. I don't know why I've been staring at you. Just trying to see who you are I guess. My name is Lance Gus Bongardo, and no, I'm not Italian. Yes I'm excited about this. I didn't care where I got put into, but I slightly hoped for Hufflepuff. I don't know why. Maybe it's just because I like yellow. Now, I'm eleven, from England, saw you once in the bookstore when you fell over your friend, was in the line when you took charge, enjoy playing football, which is a Muggle sport, and want to be a Keeper next year. My favorite color is yellow, I'm looking forward to Potions, and I'm looking forward to hanging out with you."  
I blushed a little at that last part. But, how did he remember all of those things about me? "Have you been _stalking _me? You sound like a stalker! I mean really! You remember me from the bookstore, you just happened to be getting your wand at the same time, just happened to get into Hufflepuff, just happen to want to play Quidditch next year, I mean really!"  
He backed away a little bit, to give me a little space to calm down. "Look, I am not stalking you. I was just there at the bookstore at the same time as you. I heard a loud noise, then someone shouting for her mom to get over there, and glanced over and saw you. I wasn't creepily watching you. And when I was getting my wand I was at the beginning of the line, so I had been there longer than you. So what if I want to play Quidditch? Lots of people do."  
It turned out that we had arrived at our common room. However, I was not done with him quite yet. "This isn't over Lance Gus Bongardo. I'm finishing this later."  
He looked over at me with a slight twinkle in his eye. "So you remember my name, huh? That's a beginning Violet Langston. I look forward to continuing this later." He slightly bowed, and walked into the common room, leaving me very confused.

**MELISSA'S POV**

Richard pushed himself so that he walked next to me. "How's Hogwarts treating you so far?"  
"Well, seeing as you've barely left my side since I've arrived; terrible." He laughed at me and clasped me on my shoulder.  
"And I love you too, Sis. I love you too." He moved back into the crowd. Leaving me surrounded by people who all seemed so much taller than me. There was another hand on my arm and someone pulled me from the center of the crowd, where I had frozen.  
I reappeared on the edge of the crowd, gasping with relief that I wasn't going to die from being crushed underfoot.  
"You have to be careful here, being so short." I turned and stepped back slightly as I found Scorpius smirking down at me.  
"What are you doing?"  
He crossed his arms. "Helping you. Now keep moving. We don't want to be left behind because I don't know the password." He shoved me slightly in the direction of the crowd of Slytherins. I stumbled, but kept my balance.  
"Why are you helping me? Did Richard put you up to this?" I didn't want my brother protecting me; he did that enough at home. Between Richard and my father, I could barely do anything.  
"Wasn't he just with you? But no, this wasn't because of Richard. This was because I didn't want to see his little sister crushed on her first day."  
Scorpius walked behind me for the rest of the way to the common room. People slightly stepped away from us, giving us a wide berth. I was thankful there was no chance for my death, but angry that Scorpius felt that he had to protect me. I didn't need protection. The torches around me flickered.  
When we finally reached the common room, Scorpius ran ahead to hear the password before coming back and informing me of it. He made me hang back as the rest of the people went in, not wanting me to get lost like he seemed to believe I would. He lead the way into the common room, which appeared to be under the lake. I just barely managed to realize where the girls had gone before they vanished.  
I glanced back at Scorpius to find him sitting with Richard before the fire, leaning back on their chairs. Richard caught my eye and waved good night. Scorpius turned and waved as well, mouthing something. I had never been good at lip reading, so all I could do was hope that it wasn't anything important.  
Our dormitory had one large window on the wall opposite the door, with two beds next to it. I quickly claimed one of them. As soon as I sat down, my belongs materialized at the end of the bed, replacing the undecorated trunks that had been there. Grace meowed and I leaned over to pull her out of her bag. She lept onto the ground and began exploring.  
The seven of us that shared the dorm quickly changed into our respective pyjamas. My nightgown drifted on the floor behind me, a size too big. Grace lept onto my pillow and stretched before curling up. I sat down on my bed, looking out the window. I could see the moonlight on the water, making it be a beautiful shade of blue. Slowly, I slid down the back of the bed until I was curled next to Grace, my eyes drifting closed.  
Even as I drifted to sleep, I could feel my body buzzing with excitement for the next day. Classes would finally begin and I would finally be able to actually study the subjects I had read about so many times.  
As much as I tried to not let it, my mind kept going back to the fact that Scorpius had stopped me from getting crushed in the crowd. He had thought I needed protection. I didn't need protection any more. I drifted into a deep sleep, thinking about classes and Scorpius's smirking face.  
The torches closed to me flickered.

**A/N: Hey everyone! It's me, LilAngel. How'd you like it? I guess we're uploading quicker than we thought we would. Woohoo! **  
**_I'm just gonna say I'm Hunter. I don't want to have to write out hunterofartemis every time I want to say my name. So I'm Hunter. That's a good name; right?_**  
**Yes it is a very good name. I'm just going to be Angel as well. So.. review! And did anyone get what I did in this chapter? You know... a kid who stares at Violet.. has the name GUS in it.. ah forget it. If you do get it you're awesome. **  
**_It wasn't very hard to figure out Angel. Oh, by the way, in case you haven't figured out who's writing who I'm writing Melissa and Angel is writing Violet._**  
**Yup! And as soon as this is uploading, we're going to be writing the next chapter! We're on break so we can write a lot quicker. School starts on Monday, so uploads will probably take longer.**  
**_Especially since I spend like 3 of the 5 days of the week at dance for about 2 hours. Plus all the homework. Not fun...not fun._**  
**Yeah... So enjoy it while you can! And REVIEW! Questions? Comments? Anything! Just review! We enjoy reviews.**  
**_They make us happy. Also, we're not British, so if we mess anything up we're sorry!_**


	3. Loggerheaded swag-bellied ratsbain!

**VIOLET'S POV**

I woke up because the sun was shining right onto my face. Maybe choosing the bed by the only window wasn't the best idea in the world. I groggily turned to find the big clock out the window. I think it said 5:30. Great. Just great. I was up way earlier than I needed to be. I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes, hearing a slight meow from under my bed. Confused, I leaned over my bed to see what Snowball had done. Somehow she had found my favorite jacket and made a bed out of it. Sighing, I got up and got dressed. I stumbled downstairs, still half asleep, to find Lance sitting by the fire, reading a book. I cautiously reached up and patted my hair down, hoping to make it look decent. He turned and looked to find me standing in the doorway, staring at him.  
"Hey stalker. Caught you staring at me."  
Of course he would say something like that. "What in the world are you doing up? I'm only up because I chose the window bed. And out of all the things to be doing, you're _reading_? What's wrong with you? Are you Melissa or something? And anyways, to continue our conversation, you were really freaking me out."  
"Well good morning to you too Sleeping Beauty." he sarcastically replied.  
"How do you know about Sleeping Beauty? Are you not a Pureblood? Oh my gosh you aren't, are you? That's how you knew about football. What are you? Halfblood? Muggle parents?" I sat down in the chair next to him. "When's breakfast?"  
He laughed. "Yes I know about Sleeping Beauty. I have a little sister you know. No I'm not a Pureblood. Yes that's how I knew about football. Complete Muggle parents. Not a trace of magic in them. Not quite sure how I got it then; always been a mystery to me. And I believe that they're serving breakfast even right now. Shall I accompany you to the dining hall?" I couldn't believe myself. Was I actually beginning to like this strange boy? It couldn't be happening. But hey, I was hungry, and didn't want to be alone. "Fine, let's go to breakfast." I started walking out the door when he grabbed my arm and pointed down to my feet.  
"You might want to change those first." he said with a laugh.  
I looked down, to find that I was wearing my purple bunny slippers. My face turned slightly red as I muttered the most clever response of all. "Oops. I'll be right back..." I ran upstairs, threw my slippers on my bed (where one of them accidentally hit Snowball, who I quietly apologized to) and grabbed the right shoes to wear during the day. After changing all of that, Lance walked with me to the dining hall, telling me many jokes, trying to make me laugh. We walked into the dining hall, both of us laughing, when I saw Melissa sitting all by herself with a plate of pancakes underneath her. Of course, she was reading a book. It was propped up on the pepper and salt shakers behind it.  
"Hey Melissa! Melissa. MELISSA!" I shouted to her. She didn't seem to hear me. I ran over to her table, and yanked the book out of her hands.  
"Hey!" She glared up at me. "I was reading that! Give it back!"  
I held it up above my head. "Nope. It's time to eat _real food_. Not let your food get stone cold. Now come on. You're eating with us."  
She frowned. "Give my book back and I'll go with you. Otherwise, I'm staying here."  
I glared back. "Fine. But you'll have to get it first!" I ran back over to the Hufflepuff table, and sat the book down on the right side of me. She glared, stomped her way over to the table, and sat down.  
"Good Melissa. Now meet Lance. Lance Gus Bongardo, meet Melissa Brook.  
"Why hello my fair maiden. How are you this fine morning?" Of course, Lance had to speak like that. Before Melissa could respond, I had to ask him that.  
"Why do you always talk like that? I mean, like you're in the medieval times."  
"Whatever are you talking about? I just said that because I saw the book she was reading was set in Camelot. Now, if you excuse me, I would like to talk to someone else but you."  
I made a face at him, and he made one back at me. Melissa just sat there looking incredibly uncomfortable.  
"Um...should I leave? It feels like I'm interrupting something."  
At the same time that I said "NO" Lance said "YES". We glared at each other.  
"No, you don't need to leave. You never need to leave. So, how are things going in the Slytherin house?" I commented.  
"Slytheriny. Boring. Annoying. How's Hufflepuff?" Her voice brightened at the last sentence.  
"Same. Here's annoying right here. Who's annoying you?" Lance made another face at me.  
She sighed. "Who do you think? Scorpius and my brother."  
"Oh I met Scorpius this summer. I think after he went to your house." My eyes grew wider as Lance said that. "He couldn't stop talking about you."  
Melissa's eyes grew wider than mine. "What?" Her voice was quiet.  
"No. No. No. NO. NO WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT LANCE? SHE'S GOING INTO A PANIC ATTACK! Calm down Melissa. Calm down. You don't have to like him back. Just kick him. Or I can kick him. Or whatever. JUST CALM DOWN AND BREATHE."  
"I am breathing, you frothy idle-headed wagtail. I'm not having a panic attack. I'm just in shock. And I know I don't have to like him back; this is just making me hate him more."  
I sat down again. It's good that Melissa wasn't having a panic attack. What did she just call me? I'll find that out later. I need to find out more information about this. "So Lance how do you know so much about Scorpius? Happen to meet him in Diagon Alley? Just like you met me? Spill it. How did you meet him? Why were you talking to him? Why am I talking to you? Why am I still here? Where's my schedule? OH MY GOSH WE HAVE CLASS TODAY. Anyways, back to the point. Why are you friends with Scorpius?"  
At that exact moment, Scorpius walked in. After hearing that comment, he walked over to where we were sitting. "Who am I friends with? Besides Melissa and Richard of course."

**MELISSA'S POV**

"I'm not your friend, you vain half-faced measle!" I glared towards him as Scorpius sat down next to me.  
He faked a frown. "What are you talking about? You seemed perfectly happy to be my friend when I met you at your house this summer."  
I blushed deeply. "I was not perfectly happy."  
He smirked again. "Seemed like it."  
I saw Violet dragging Lance away and leaving us alone. I narrowed my eyes at the back of her head. I was so going to get her back for this. "What's wrong, Melissa? Don't want to be friends with me?" Out of the corner of my eye I could see that he now had puppydog eyes.  
"No." I grabbed my book and pushed myself standing, grabbing a piece of toast as I went. "No, dankish beetle-headed bugbear. I don't want to be your friend." With a slap to the back of his head, I stormed out of the Great Hall.  
Violet and Lance were waiting just outside the door, ears pressed to both quickly stood up as soon as they saw me.  
"We weren't, I mean it wasn't what you think- We were only trying to..." Both of them tried to think of an excuse, and were failing.  
I crossed my arms. "You both are loggerheaded swag-bellied ratsbain!"  
They both looked confused. "We're what now?"  
I sighed. "Loggerheaded swag-bellied ratsbain!"  
Violet seemed to slowly understand. "It's from a book isn't it. And you're a loggerheaded swag-bain ratsbellied too!"  
"That's not the insult. And it's not from a book, not technically. It's from Shakespeare. I discovered him recently and fell in love with the insults." I glared at the two of them. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go finish my book on Arthurian legends. Good day to you both." I pushed myself past them, taking a bite of the toast. I vanished into the hallways, searching for a quiet area that I could read until classes began.  
I found a small hallway that was blocked mostly by a large statue. With a sigh I fell to the ground and pulled open my book. I quickly became lost in my book, losing complete track of time. I glanced up for one moment to see what time it was. I dropped my book to the floor. It was 7:45. I was late for class on my first day. As quickly as I could, I got all of my things together and ran out of the hallway. I stopped, then realized I didn't know what class I was going to. My heart dropped once again. I never got my schedule. I looked into my bag, hoping there was something in there that could help me, when I saw my schedule appear at the very bottom. Professor Martsworth, head of Slytherin, must have somehow magically put it in there when I wasn't at the table to receive it. I sighed with relief, then started running off to where my first class was: Potions.  
I pulled the door to the classroom open and froze as everyone in the classroom turned to look at me. A woman with bright red hair stood at the center of the room, seeming very out of place in the middle of the dungeon. I saw Violet and Lance sitting at table together. At the back of my mind I wondered how long it would take for them to get together.  
"You must be Miss Brook." The woman smiled at me. "I'm Professor Noble. It's your first day, so I won't mark you as late. This castle is very difficult to navigate. I remember my first day; missed my first class because I couldn't figure out where to go. Just take a seat. You haven't missed much." Her voice had an accent; It seemed Scottish.  
Violet whispered to me "Where were you?" as I sat down next to her.  
I whispered back to her, pulling my potions book from my bag. "I got really caught up in my reading. I didn't mean to lose track of time."  
Violet turned to face Lance and whispered to him "Ha! I knew I was right. Melissa couldn't get lost anywhere; she was just reading. You owe me five galleon."  
"You guys _bet_ on where I was?" I angrily whispered to her. I couldn't believe this! First, they left me alone with Scorpius and then they bet on me! "Why am I friends with you two?"  
Professor Noble appeared beside me. "You can finish talking with your friends later. Now, you must start on what I've written on the board." With a smile, she disappeared back down the small hallways that the desks created.  
I sighed and yanked open the textbook. Over the summer, when I read through all the books that Richard had stored away in boxes, I had never found potions very exciting. It all seemed too regulated, with hardly anything relating to something else. After studying in our books for what seemed like forever, partially because I had the entire book memorized, we were instructed to make our first potion. We split up into pairs and were allowed to choose from a list of which one to make. Violet and I paired up, leaving Lance to find someone else to work with.  
"Um...which one do you want to make?" I flipped through the book absentmindedly.  
"Hmm... oh! I want to make that one!" Violet pointed to the sleeping draught. "I think it sounds really interesting. And fun to play with once we get it brewed right."  
I sighed. "I don't think we'll be able to take the potion out of the classroom. The professor will probably destroy it."  
She looked crestfallen. "Oh. Well then what would you want to make?"  
"We can still make that one. Just not take it out of the classroom. But it may be too difficult."  
"Well I always like a challenge! Let's try it! At the very least we can have fun, right? And look- other kids are making it too. So what's to say we can't make it right?" Violet seemed very hooked on making this potion. I sighed, and then went along with her idea. Already I could tell that arguing with Violet would never work in my favor.  
I sent Violet to get the ingredients. She practically skipped towards the cabinet. I shook my head and returned to the book, messing with the fire under the cauldron so that it was at the proper place to start. Violet returned and dumped the ingredients on the table.  
"Okay, how do we start?" she asked, looking over the ingredients. We both looked at the book and began mixing everything together. All of a sudden, there was an explosion, and we looked down to find that Violet's cauldron was ruined.  
"Is everything okay girls?" Professor Noble came over to check on us. When she saw what was left of Violet's cauldron she laughed a bit. "It's alright Miss Langston. We can get you a new caudron. Use Miss Brook's for now." She left our station and continued walking around to look at other student's potions. We then began making a potion again, this time with me primarily making it and Violet just adding ingredients when I told her to. We were only halfway through, thanks to our explosion, when Professor Noble called for everyone to stop.  
She began to walk through the desks once again, pausing at each potion and studying them carefully. She carried a piece of paper with her, making marks as she walked along. As she passed each cauldron, she waved her wand to vanish the potion inside.  
"See, I told you we wouldn't be able to keep them" I whispered to Violet next to me. She made a face at me in return as Professor Noble walked up to our potion. She paused at it for a moment, staring straight at it, before turning her head and smiling at us.  
"This is good girls. Really good. Not perfect, but better than anything I've seen in the rest of the class so far. Ten points to Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Good job." She made our potion disappear and walked away. Violet turned to me and raised her hand for a high-five, something I gladly did.  
"It was all you, you know. I completely messed up the first potion. It was you that got us our ten points" she whispered to me.  
I blushed and lowered my head. How was it possible that I was good at the subject I hated? Hopefully that it would turn out that this was a fluke and that I was actually terrible.  
Class ended and I moved on to all of my other classes. I wasn't particularly good at any of them, but not bad at the same time. I balanced on the fine line. The Transfiguration professor spent about ten minutes talking about how amazing my brother was, making me want to shrink down in my seat and hide. I could hear the snickers of the Ravenclaws that we shared the class with.  
The candles that filled the chandelier drifting through the air above blew out.

**VIOLET'S POV**

I went from class to class, bored out of my mind. All I wanted was to get to my first flying lesson. So far the only class I sort of thought wasn't boring was Transfiguration. I looked down at my schedule and my heart skipped a few beats. I had my flying lesson next! And I even had it with Gryffindor! So I would be able to hang out with more people than just Lance, who hung out around me a lot. He felt like a puppy that you couldn't get rid of. It was getting quite annoying. However, I still dealt with it, hoping he would find another friend soon.  
I ran down the corridors so I could get outside, where I didn't see any other students around. Madam Hooch was there though, so I figured we could talk Quidditch until the other students got there.  
Hugo and Lily were the first to arrive. Lily ran over to me, just as excited about flying as I was. Hugo, the sensible one, just walked over, sat down, and read a book. My god he's just like Melissa. The rest of the class slowly trickled in, until it was time for us to finally learn how to fly. My heart thumped louder and louder as Madam Hooch gave us an introduction, to the point where I could swear everyone else could hear it.  
"Okay everyone, go stand by a broomstick." Madam Hooch instructed. Lily and I chose ones in the middle, with Hugo slowly following.  
"Alright, everyone open your palm out over the broom and shout, 'Up broom, up!'" I quickly followed instructions, and to my amazement, the broom flew right into my hand as soon as I said it. I looked around and saw that no one else had gotten their brooms into their hands yet.  
Lily whispered to me, "How did you get it into your hand so quickly? Mine won't budge." I shrugged in response, but waited sort of patiently until most of the class got it to work. Madam Hooch told us to mount our brooms and to kick off, hover in the air for a few seconds, and float back down. She warned that we most likely wouldn't fly at first, so not to get our hopes up. I could hardly wait.  
I mounted the broomstick, then kicked off the ground. I flew up so high off the ground, I could hardly believe it. The wind felt so nice on my face, my hair flowing back out of my face. From this perspective I could see all of Hogwarts. I felt so free, like I could go anywhere. I snapped back to Earth and floated back down. I was greeted by many open mouths, and a mixture of anger/wondering Madam Hooch.  
"Miss Langston! Did you even listen to what I said?" I only nodded. "Then why did you shoot into the air?"  
"I didn't mean to! I barely kicked off the ground and then, BAM, I was all the way up there. It felt so wonderful though. I'm sorry for disobeying you." I truly did feel bad for not following instructions, but I didn't mean to. But it did feel magical, being on a broomstick. I couldn't wait to become a Seeker next year.  
Madam Hooch seemed to ruffle her feathers. "Very well. I won't take any points from your house."  
Class ended after that, but I was still curious about flying. "Madam Hooch, can I ask you a couple things about flying and Quidditch and everything?"  
"No. Perhaps another day. Please go to dinner." She waved me away, turning around the begin to collect the brooms."  
I reluctantly walked away, shoving aside the questions for a later date. I saw Lance waiting around for me. I sighed, then walked to the Great Hall with him, his hand brushing against mine every once in awhile.  
**A/N: **_**I've decided to go first this time. We hoped you enjoyed this chapter.**_  
**Yup! Sorry for the beginning. Wasn't my favorite beginning ever. But for all of you reading this- TELL EVERYONE TO READ IT!**  
_**Don't be mean about it...but do. We're having fun writing this and we want to make sure people are liking it. Also, I hope you enjoyed Melissa's new insults. I've taken a liking to them, but in no way would remember them in real life. So I've decided to give Shakespeare's insults to Melissa; also they confuse everyone.**_  
**Yeah... I'm not like that. But yeah. Review! And once again, if you caught the little reference in there then you once again ROCK!**  
_**Is that everything? I think so...um...bye! Hunter out. Wait. That sounded stupid. Um...I have no good ending phrase.**_  
**Bye! Read! Review! Eat chocolate! Watch Doctor Who! Enjoy everything that makes you happy! **  
_**Your ending sounds much more motivational.**_  
**Why thank you. But seriously, adios.**


	4. Always Go With Someone

**VIOLET'S POV**

I walked up to where Melissa was sitting. For some reason she was talking to Scorpius. Well, I say talking. It seemed more like Scorpius was carrying on a conversation and Melissa was trying to ignore him. She had another book propped up in front of her, her hands pressed over her ears.

"Yeah, so anyways your friend is kind of embarrassing. You should stop hanging out around her."

Those words did not just come out of his slimy little mouth. I stomped over to where he was sitting, but without him seeing me. As soon as I was close enough, I raised my hand and slapped his overly large head as hard as I could.

"Ouch." he raised a hand to rub his head as he turned to face me. "What was that for?"

I was very angry with him. "I heard what you said. About me. Don't deny it."

Scorpius smirked, raising his arms in a defensive gesture. "I wasn't planning on it."

Melissa snapped around to face him. "Can you leave? Now." It was really strange to hear such an assertive voice coming from such a small and quiet person. However, Scorpius stood and disappeared down the table. I followed him with my eyes and watched as he sat down next to Richard, laughing about something together. I sat down next to Melissa, receiving many strange looks from her house-mates. It wasn't as if I was, oh I don't know, casting some weird spell on her. I was just sitting down next to my friend.

"I'm sorry about that. He just sat down and started talking to me. I was trying to ignore him." She closed her book and slid it onto her lap.

"I really don't know why he enjoys picking on me so much. I'm not that embarrassing, am I?" I was worried that I was. I didn't want to be embarrassing. I just wanted to have fun. And be with my friends.

Melissa furiously shook her head. "I don't think you're embarrassing at all! Scorpius can just be a jerk sometimes."

I only nodded. "I guess I should leave you to your reading." I smiled at her; she was my best friend. Most people generally don't want to be my friend because I'm 'a hazard to their health' or whatever. Melissa was really nice.

I walked back over to my table, sat down next to Lance and quietly began eating. It felt strange to be so quiet, but I needed to think and I couldn't do that while carrying on a conversation.

"Hey Violet, what's up? You're quiet." Lance seemed a little worried about me. "Are you sick or something?"

"Funny. Very funny. I have to think, which you never seem to do." After quickly eating my food, I walked back to the common-room with, of course, Lance by my side. It was as if he had suddenly become my bodyguard or something. Or a puppy. I guess he was my puppy bodyguard. However that works out...

I changed into my silk nightgown and climbed into bed. Looking out at the moon and the stars helped me think about everything. Melissa, Scorpius, Lance, Hugo, flying... I fell asleep picturing me catching the Golden Snitch, everyone cheering for me.

**MELISSA'S POV**

"Puking onion-eyed foot-licker." I mumbled, slamming my book closed and standing up. Despite the distance, I was still able to hear Scorpius and Richard laughing. That made it quite difficult to continue reading.

The corridors were empty. I rather liked being in such a large castle and feeling like there was no one around. It made it easy to forget about Scorpius and just marvel in the wonders of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It had been very difficult to get a hold of, but somehow Richard returned home one day for a winter break with a trunk full of Shakespeare's plays.

When I reached the common room (after taking a longer route back and promptly getting lost while doing so), there was only one person there. The pale blond hair stood out greatly, but it seemed as though he was asleep. I crossed my fingers and began to slowly make my way towards the dormitories.

"Melissa, wait." I paused, but didn't turn around.

"What do you want?" The words sounded harsh, even to me. But I had had too few close friends to only have them be taken away after only just knowing them.

He took a deep breath. "Do be careful about Violet. She will only bring trouble to everyone."

I whipped around, one of my braids slapping him in the face. "Don't you dare talk about my friend like that. I don't care what you say, or what you think, but she is my friend. And nothing you say or do will change that!" With another turn, I stalked off.

He mumbled something as I left. I couldn't quite catch it, but he seemed sort of conflicted with emotions. But what did I care? We weren't friends. I walked into my room and on my bed I saw a piece of paper. I opened it up and written on it was:

_Dear Melissa,_

_You are in great danger. I am warning you now, to just remember this:_

_Never go alone. Always go with someone._

_Until we meet,_

_P_

I crumpled the paper up and threw it away. It was probably just Richard and Scorpius playing a prank on me, to see if I would freak out or not. With a sigh  
I threw the paper in a vague direction, promising myself I would yell at them the next day. I put on my nightgown and climbed into bed. I fell asleep almost instantly, tired from the days activities.

There was darkness. It surrounded me, with nothing else visible. Even like that, I had the feeling I was alone. A light burst onto me and I was blinded for a moment before the shock faded. I heard footsteps coming from a direction I couldn't place. I turned around, in every direction, heart thumping about what I was about to encounter.

"Oh my gosh Melissa? It's you! Thank goodness! I've been in this place for like...forever. I'm kind of scared. But excited! You're the first person I've been able to find."

I was confused. Why in the world would Violet be in my dream? No one was ever there with me, no matter the dream. If people were there, they were faceless and everything was really hot. So why was this time Violet there?

"Uh.. Hi Violet. So where are we?"

She stopped mid-bounce. "I don't know, but I've been here for a long time, and it seems endless. Just darkness everywhere."

This seemed to be getting worse as I slept. "Well, it's got to end somewhere, doesn't it?"

We walked around for what seemed like forever, that one light following us wherever we went. The longer we were walking though, the lighter the area around us got. When it got to the point where we could hardly see, everything went black again.

I sat up in my bed. I shivered. There was something strange about that dream. Not only was someone there when normally there wasn't, but I had never had a dream that was remotely like that. There was always a sense of fear with the dreams, but this one made me feel calm. Confused, yes, but not worried.

Clenching my fists, I walked into the common room still in my nightgown (it was a day off from school) and saw Scorpius sitting with Richard. Their backs were turned to me again, heads ducked over something. I decided to go over and confront him about the so called "prank" they tried to play on me.

"Why'd you use the name 'P'?"

Both of them turned in unison. "What are you talking about?" Scorpius started.

"And why are you still in your nightgown?" Richard followed a second after.

I crossed my arms, glaring at the two of them. "You two left me a note to try and scare me. I'm not falling for it. And I'm still in my nightgown because there are no classes today."

Scorpius spoke first. "So why are you wearing a nightgown?"

I sighed. "Because I just woke up."

Richard shifted in his seat, his eyes flickering between Scorpius and I. He leaned forward slightly, almost as if he was trying to block Scorpius from me. Scorpius leaned back. I adjusted my feet and watched them.

"Well, we didn't leave any notes." Scorpius shrugged. "Do you still have it? Maybe we could try and figure out who left it."

"Stop acting as if you didn't write any note. It was obviously you two. Why do I even try with you guys?" I walked away, anger boiling up inside of me.

No matter how annoyed I was at Scorpius or Richard, the fact remained that Violet had been in my dream. It was so strange; something I would have to mention. I got dressed and made my way back downstairs, where Scorpius and Richard no longer sat. I had no idea where Violet could be, but I was hungry. I needed to find out more about that note, but my hunger was taking over. I was going to the Great Hall first.

Walking into the Great Hall, I saw that most of the students were already there. However, they were spread out more sparsely than usual. I sat down on the opposite end of where Scorpius and Richard were sitting and pulled out my new biography on Shakespeare.

"Hey Melissa!" Violet's voice broke through the world of late sixteenth century England. I turned my head to see her sliding onto the seat next to me. "I'm getting really tired of Lance. I had to get away from him, so I told him that I left a book in the common room, if he could go get it. The minute he left I came over here." She smiled at me. "Another Shakespeare book? Jeez, how many do you have?"

I laughed, closing the book. "Quite a few. Richard showed up one day with a trunk load of them and dumped them on my floor before vanishing. I never got a chance to figure out where he got them, since everytime I mention it he pretends he doesn't know what I'm talking about."

"That's... strange. But not as strange as you! You were in my dream last night. We were all alone in this big dark place and we went exploring it but there was no exit, but you only showed up a while after I got there. Oh and another weird thing! Before I went to sleep, there was this weird note on my bed. It said something about never going alone. I gave it to Snowball to play with. How was your night last night?"

My eyes widened. "You were in my dream too. You were already there when I got there, but we were all alone otherwise. It was dark and there was no exit." I slid the book into my lap. "I got one of those notes too. I thought it was Richard or Scorpius playing a prank, but there was no way they could have gotten one into your room. Was it signed by 'P'?"

Violet seemed to be somehow excited by this. How was she not freaked out or anything? "Yeah it was! This is so cool! It's a mystery! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Fun? How is it going to be fun? We had identical dreams and we both got a creepy note that can basically be interpreted as someone is stalking us. How is that fun?" My voice sounded harsh, even to me. I watched as Violet shrank down in her seat, almost ashamed.

Her voice was quiet as she said, "I'm sorry. I just thought it was interesting."

My eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment. "I didn't mean it like that. I find it interesting too, but I'm also scared."

Violet was about to say something in reply, but Scorpius walked over at that moment.

"Richard got a letter from home. Your parents want to know how school is going so far. Also, your cousin Mason Shaw is coming of age next week, and you've gained permission to go to his party. You'd be missing one day of school for travel and also the weekend. But you'll be getting back the Monday after." His eyes flickered to Violet. "Apparently your dress is already at the Shaw's home, so no need to worry about that."

I clenched my fists. "Goodbye Scorpius." He nodded and walked away.

Violet looked really excited. "What's your dress look like? Is it a floor length dress? Is it a ballerina type? Is it medium length? Sparkly? Satiny? Soft? Green? Gray? Purple? Bue? Red? Silver? Gold? Black? Pink? Auburn? Aquamarine? Magenta? Orange? Yellow? Tell me!" She was bouncing up and down in the seat.

I had to laugh. "I have no idea what it looks like; my mother most likely picked it out for me. I would guess she's already at the Shaw's with it."

I saw her eyes widen. "Wow, that's so awesome. I've been wanting to go to a party for a while, but I guess I'll just wait 'till my birthday. It's only three weeks away. You absolutely HAVE to tell me about the party! I should go check on Lance. It should not have taken this long to find a book. See you later!" Violet jumped out of her seat and walked out of the Great Hall.

**A/N: ****_Hello everyone!_**

**I am very disappointed in all of you.**

_**Angel! Be nice! Be thankful of the people who are reading this story.**_

**Yes but it's not enough :( Only three people have continued reading this story as of 3/29/13! It's sad! It's making me very sad!**

_**It takes awhile for people to notice your story. I would know. Just be patient. Besides, no one will want to keep reading if you're mean to them.**_

**-sigh- Fine.. but at least all -cough cough THREE cough cough- of you please spread the word! And I'm not trying to be mean! I just feel very strongly about this.**

_**Let's just thank the people who are reading and ask them to share it.**_

**I did!**

_**Now be patient. Good stories take time to be noticed.**_

**I know, I know. Now can we write the next chapter? I'm excited for it, cuz there's going to be interesting stuff in it! Oh, and RIP Richard Griffiths (AKA Vernon Dursley). To make the mood better, whoever gets this trivia question right will have the next chapter dedicated to them! Ahem. The question is:**

**Who did Harry meet first, Draco Malfoy or Ron?**

**Now I bid you goodnight! Or morning. Whenever you're reading this.**


	5. The Rest of the Family

**MELISSA'S POV**

We were thankful that no one was sitting under the tree that Richard had pointed me to before we left for Hogwarts. The shadow from the leaves fell over us and shaded us from the sun that burned overhead. I lay on my back, somehow holding the book in the air above my head as I read. Violet began leaning against the tree, seeming like she was trying to sleep, but she moved so that she was playing with my hair. Somehow, she had managed to move it out from under my back.

"Hey look! I see Hugo and Lily! But who are those people? Oh my gosh have they left us for other people? No they wouldn't do that to us. So who are they?" Violet's voice woke me from my daze.

I pushed myself sitting and narrowed my eyes so that I could see them better. "They're coming over here...who are those people with them?"

"I don't know; that's why I was asking you!" she accidentally pulled my hair while saying her last line.

"Ow!"

"Sorry..."

Lily, Hugo and the other people walked closer to where we were sitting. I instantly became slightly nervous; I don't do well around people I don't know. I was already nervous for Mason's party this weekend; I would have to talk to family members I haven't seen in a long time. I had to leave later that day and already I was dreading it.

Both Violet and I watched nervously as the five people stopped in front of us.

"Hey Violet!" Lily smiled.

Hugo waved. "Hello Melissa."

We smiled back. It was then that I noticed how similar Hugo looked to a red haired girl that stood behind him and how similar Lily was to two boys that stood behind her, the two of them looking even more similar.

"Oh my gosh! You look just like them! Hugo, Lily, who are they? Why do they look just like you? Who are you? Do you know who I am? If you do then that's creepy; I've already come across a potential stalker before- so don't think I don't know how to deal with them."

All of them laughed, and Lily was the first to speak. "No no no Violet, they're not stalkers. They're our siblings."

My eyes widened. "I should have known! No wonder you look so similar."

The two boys stepped forward. The taller one waved. "I'm James Sirius Potter."

Violet squealed. "You're the Gryffindor Seeker! Can you teach me how to be an awesome Seeker? I'm going to be one next year! But I need training first. Please? Please please please? Wait, who are you then?"

The other boy, who had bright green eyes, laughed. "I'm Albus Severus Potter."

I gasped. "Like the best headmaster of Hogwarts ever; Dumbledore? And like the man who protected your father until his death; Snape?" I was bouncing very similarly to Violet was. One of my favorite books when I was a child was the true biography of Dumbledore. He was one of the best people I had ever heard about. There was a signed picture of him that my mother had gotten in my bedroom. But there was no way I could have read about Dumbledore without hearing about Snape. He had one of the strangest stories I had ever heard of, but he is still someone that I always look up to as a role model.

The way Albus cringed made me realize what I had said. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything about Snape. He was just such an amazing person, so brave despite what happened to him. I would have loved to meet him."

James clasped Albus on his shoulder. "Don't mind my younger brother. He's working on not being so sensitive about his name."

I could see Violet gazing up at James in admiration. I elbowed her to get her to to stop before he saw her. "Is that your sister Hugo?"

She stepped forward. "Hey. I'm Rose Weasley. I see you know my little brother?" She rubbed his head affectionately. "Hope he's not _too_ boring or quiet for you. It bothers me so much."

Violet laughed. "He and Melissa are perfect for eachother." When she realized what she had said, her eyes got really big. "No! I didn't mean it like _that_! I meant like.. um.. FRIENDS! Perfect _friends _for each other!"

Hugo blushed, but didn't say a word.

We quickly separated into small groups as we sat under the tree. Hugo, Albus and I claimed the spot leaning against the trunk. Violet, Lily, Rose and James all climbed the tree and hung in various positions from the branches.

Albus and I began to quiz each other on various history facts, with Hugo adding questions in that made all three of us pause for a moment before one answered. Occasionally laughter would drift down from above and we would look up to see the four of them joking together.I'm not sure how long we all sat there, either in the tree or on the ground, but it seemed like we could all sit there forever.

"Melissa?" Everyone turned their heads to either look up or down at my brother, who stopped in front of me. "It's time to go."

I sighed, pushing myself up. "See you guys on Monday."

Violet landed with a thud next to me, somehow not landing on her head. I could only assume she had fallen from the tree but I didn't know if it was on purpose or not. By how annoyed her face was, I assumed not.

She leapt up and gave me a hug. "Don't forget to tell me what your dress looks like! I want every single detail! And you had better come back on Monday; no excuses!"

I hugged her back. "Don't worry. But not much will happen; the party will be filled with stuck-up old purebloods who are already planning who I'm going to marry."

She seemed to get defensive. "You are NOT allowed to marry anyone right now young lady!"

I laughed, but Richard shuffled his feet, looking embarrassed. I quickly pulled away from Violet. With waves goodbye to everyone else, I began to follow Richard as he climbed the hill towards the castle.

One of my various uncles was waiting for us when we reached the great hall. He was short and rather fat, with small eyes that glared at both of us as we approached. Without a word he turned and lead us through the doors and down the grounds, where a carriage waited.

The journey was filled with silence and I was almost glad to see the Shaw house out the window. There were two servants waiting to escort Richard and I to our rooms, where we would stay until the party.

I collapsed on the floor, not wanting to sit on the stale bed that didn't look slept in for about twenty years. Why did I have to go to these? Why couldn't the Headmistress just say no?

When I finally began to get tired, I pulled myself over to the closet. Thankfully, my mother had bothered to bring a nightgown for me to wear, rather than one of the dusty ones that hung in the back.

Sleeping was difficult, since laughter began to come loudly from downstairs as other family members arrived and more bottles of wine were opened. I had to pull all of the pillows on top of my ears and press them down with all my strength to make there be any slight bit of silence. Somehow I managed to fall asleep, after what seemed like hours of waiting, and had a dreamless night.

**VIOLET'S POV**

Without Melissa around, I had to hang out with Lance in all of my classes. However, during dinner I went over to the Gryffindor table for a change. I saw Lily and James sitting on one side, with Hugo, Albus and Rose on the other. I chose the side with Lily and James, sitting down in between them.

"Oh hey Violet!" Lily was the first to say it; she was then followed by many choruses of Hi's and Hello's.

"Hi everyone! It's weird without Melissa here, isn't it?" I didn't pause long enough to let them answer. "So James! How about those.. um.. extra flying lessons? Is it at all possible for you to to give me some of the secrets on how to be a good flyer and an excellent Seeker? You know you want to! You wouldn't want to see me sad. Sad Violet's aren't nice."

He smiled, amused by my excitement. "I don't want to make an opposite team too good. But sure, I'll teach you. Tomorrow?"

I was bouncing up and down in my seat. "Oh my gosh yes yes yes!" I reached up and gave him a big hug. "You are the absolute best!"

Everyone laughed. Rose smiled as she said, "You guys seem like family. You even sort of look like each other, even more than James does to Lily or Albus. It's as if you're siblings separated at birth."

I gasped. "So.. I have a brother now? That's awesome! I'm sort of related to Harry Potter! This is so cool! Even though we're not literally related, you are now officially my adopted big brother."

James laughed and pulled my head down so he could give me a noogie. I laughed as well. I had never had a brother before, or anyone remotely brotherly-like, so this was an amazing experience for me.

I stayed with the Gryffindors for the rest of dinner, until it was time for all of us to head back to our houses. I walked with Lance there, not really speaking much to him. We spent so much time together during the day that we didn't have anything new to say to each other. I told him goodnight and headed up to my room. Slipping my nightgown on, I looked out at the stars and wondered if Melissa was having a good time or not. I hoped she was. She deserved to have a little bit of fun every once in awhile. I chatted a bit with the other girls in the room, not really that interested in what they were talking about, until I decided I should go to bed. I grabbed my wand, Snowball, and a special book I had. Under the covers of my bed, I whispered "_lumos_"and my wand lit up. Snowball meowed, surprised by the sudden light, and I giggled a little bit. I opened my book and began to start reading in it. It was a book that I had made when I was younger, with both of my parents. In it was all of the things I wanted to do before I turned into an adult. There were pictures, little pieces of random stuff, and a bunch of markers. I would cross off each thing I did once I got home, and put in there something from the day. I flipped towards the back of the book, where my new additions were. Sighting the one that said _Make new friends at school, _I grabbed a pen that was nearby and crossed it off, attaching a picture of everyone to it. I closed the book, placed it on my bedside table, and whispered _"nox"._ The light dimmed, and I slowly fell asleep.

**MELISSA'S POV**

Someone knocking on the door woke me in in the morning. A young girl came into the room, a large tray in her hands. She put it on the small table by the door before leaving again. I sighed. All I wanted was someone to talk to, even if it was a servant. But none of them were allowed to talk to me and they were required to tell the Shaw's if I asked them to talk to me.

I got dressed before eating the food, hating how good it was. The second after I finished I was bored again. No one had bothered to bring my books into my room and the only one I could see was a nearly destroyed picture book. Even if I wasn't supposed to leave the room, I had to find something to read.

There were no noises outside my door. I carefully pulled it open and poked my head out. There was no one around. Closing the door behind me, I briefly considered where books could be. I had never been to the Shaw's house before; Mason was an only child.

It was much easier than I thought it would be to sneak around the house. It didn't seem like anyone was around. I didn't risk going down to the first floor; I knew that was where all the adults would be.

I was looking around a corner when someone ran into me and I fell to the ground. "Oh hello Melissa. I didn't see you there." I didn't even have to look up to know that it was Mason. His voice already was deep. I pushed myself standing and stepped back from him. "What are you looking for?" He had very bright blue eyes. They were distracting.

"My books." I managed to whisper it out, trying to ignore how fixed his eyes were on me.

He raised a thick eyebrow. "Your books? I haven't seen any around. Do you want me to help you look?"

While having someone who actually lived in the house might help me find my way around much easier, I didn't want to have to rely on Mason. He had been strange to me since I was seven and he was 13. Ever since then I tried to avoid being around him.

I quickly shook my head. "It's fine. I can find them myself."

"This house is rather large. It would be ages until you found them yourself." There was something strange about his voice. I took another step back.

"I didn't need them anyways. I think I'll go find my brother now."

Mason smiled. "Third floor. There's a painting of a horse with a hat to the right of his door."

"Thanks." I quickly ran away. Why did it have to be Mason's birthday? Why couldn't it be Elizabeth's, the one family member who was nice. She was turning 17 next year. I could only hope that I would be able to go; she was a third cousin.

After I had climbed all of the stairs, I walked down one of the hallways, hoping that Richard's room was in this hallway. I was about to turn around and go down a different one, when I saw the painting of a horse with a hat. I knocked and Richard's voice faintly told me I could come in.

He was hanging upside down from his bed, staring at the wall across from him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored and you're the only person I can talk to here." He somehow managed to nod.

"Take a seat on the bed." He swung himself up so that he was sitting as I plopped myself on the bed. "Did you run into anyone on your way here?"

"Mason." I shuddered. Richard tensed and I watched as he grit his teeth. I had the feeling he hated Mason even more than I did.

"Did he... do anything to you? Say anything to you?" He had to force the words to come out of his mouth.

"He offered to help me find my books and then told me where your room was when I asked." Richard relaxed. "Are you ready for tonight?" Just like with me, the family was already planning who they wanted Richard to marry. So far, their top choice was a distant cousin named Myra. He had yet to meet her, but she was going to be at the party that night.

He laughed. "I will never be ready for a night with our family."

I stayed in his room the entire day, eating lunch with him, talking about anything that came up. He showed me how to hang upside down without falling. I only fell once, which I was very proud of. An hour before the party I had to drag myself down to my room so I could get ready.

**VIOLET'S POV**

The day seemed to drag on and on as I anxiously waited to fly again. Since there were no classes to distract me, I had to do the best I could with what I had. I talked to Lance once again, played with Snowball, finished my homework, and eventually it was close to lunch. I was on my way to the Great Hall when I saw a tall, shadowy figure making its way towards me. I looked to both sides of me to only find that I was all by myself. As the head moved closer towards me my heart dropped as I realized who it was.

"Hey stupid half-blood. Are you lost?"

I took a deep breath and summoned all of the courage I could. "No, I'm not lost. I was just making my way to the Great Hall because I'm hungry and it's lunchtime. Now, if you'll excuse me..." I tried to walk past Scorpius, but he only blocked my path.

"You know that no one wants you here, don't you? Even your 'friends' wish you weren't there. They find you annoying. They find you childish. They hate you. Everyone hates you."

I was fighting tears at that point. Before I could say anything, he apparently wasn't finished yet.

"Even Melissa hates you. She told me. She hates you and she doesn't know why she bothers to be around you. She finds you stupid. She doesn't find you worthy of being with her. No one does. You're just the idiot half-blood that is terrible at everything."

The tears were rolling down my face as I barely whispered, "Why do you hate me so much?"

He smirked. "Because it's impossible for anyone to like you."

I burst into tears as I started running away from him. I could hear him laughing as I was running. I didn't know where to run to but I automatically went to the fields since James would be there soon enough. I found that he was already there when I arrived, warming up for our little session. When he saw what state I was in, he instantly flew down to the ground and ran over to me. I dropped to the ground and curled up into a ball as he came over to me.

"Violet!" He pulled me into his arms. "What happened to you?!" I could hardly breathe, let alone speak to anyone. "Sh.. sh.. it'll all be alright. But I need to know what happened to you so I can fix it." I still couldn't speak, but my tears were starting to slow down and my breathing was a little bit better. "Who did this to you? Can you tell me who did it to you?" He pulled me closer to him as he just kept on whispering "Sh.." to me.

**MELISSA'S POV**

A pale green dress was spread out on the bed. There was a white ribbon around the waist and white tights to go underneath. Quickly I got dressed, not managing to tie the ribbon myself.

A servant arrived to do my hair. She automatically tied the ribbon for me before moving me so that I sat in front of the mirror. I closed my eyes as she messed with my hair. When she told me I could open my eyes, I smiled to see that it wasn't up in some complicated knot. It only hung down my back with a slight wave. There was a mask in her hands, which she placed on my face and tied it. When she was done tying the mask on me, I opened my eyes again and let out a slight gasp. I couldn't recognize myself; the mask was an emerald shade of green that matched my dress perfectly. On the mask were little gold and white jewels that were placed perfectly on it so that they weren't overpowering it. Along the edge of the mask was a line of gold sparkles, completing the look. It fit perfectly over my nose, and it made me look like I was years older.

The servant left, but she left the door open. I knew that meant it was time to leave. Taking a deep breath, I walked out and found the stairs again. The soft sounds of music reached me a moment later as I stepped into the main hallway. A servant pointed the way to the ballroom and two others pulled the doors open for me. I took a deep breath and stepped through.

"Melissa Irene Brook! Youngest daughter of the Brook family." A few people turned as I entered, but only the ones near the door. Everyone else didn't react.

**VIOLET'S POV**

I don't know how long I stayed like that, just sitting in James' arms, curled up in a ball. I got to the point though when I could breathe and speak, which is when I quietly answered his question. I told him everything that happened. When I was done, he looked extremely angry.

"I am going to kill him."

I looked up at him, still slightly sniffling. "Why do you care so much? I've only known you for about a day."

"Because I'm not a terrible person. Because you're my 'sister'. Because it's impossible for me to see anyone upset. Because you're friends with my sister. Take your pick."

"You know, I've never had anyone really care about this as much as you do. At my other schools stuff like this would happen as well, and the only people I could go to were my parents. I didn't really have many friends when I was growing up."

There were tears in his eyes that he quickly rubbed away. "Well, now you can come to me. I'll protect you."

I nodded. "What am I supposed to do now? Just go back to the Great Hall and pretend as if nothing has happened?"

He rubbed my hair again and kissed the top of my head. "You're going to go back to your room and stay there for the rest of the day and eat chocolate and dance to music and tell yourself how stupid he is. Meanwhile, I'm going to go find him and punch him in the face."

"But won't that get you in trouble?" I didn't want him to get in trouble. "And I guess we should reschedule our flying lesson."

He smiled. "If it does, I'll just tell them what he did. Trust me; they'll believe me. And don't worry; we will have our flying lesson. Just let me punch him in the face first."

I giggled a little bit. "Alright. You're a good big brother, adopted or not. Is this what you used to do with Lily and Albus?"

"Yes. As much as I tease Albus, no one is allowed to lay a finger on him or my family."

"James?"

"Yes?"  
"How am I going to tell Melissa?"

**MELISSA'S POV**

My father quickly swept over to me. He didn't bother wearing a mask. "You are to stay with the Roth girl the entire night. You may only speak to her or if someone speaks to you. If someone does, use as little words as possible. No talking to your brother. If someone asks you to dance, you are allowed to say no if they are more than two years older. Otherwise, you must say yes." He had told me this every time we went to one of these. Normally, he just told me to say no politely if someone asked me to dance. Now, I guess since I was older, he would allow it.

Kathryn Roth was standing next to one of the many pillars that lined the room. She already was quite tall, being only 11 and all. She was one of the friends my father had decided I should have. The only time I saw her was at one of these parties and we hardly said a word to each other, so I wouldn't call her a friend. Tonight she was in bright blue though, with her startling blond hair hanging down her back. It seemed to be a tradition in our family that the girls had long hair.

As I stood next to her, my only thought was wishing that Violet could be there so the night wouldn't be so horrible. She would have enjoyed this. But my family would have hated it and my father never would have allowed it. I could see Richard standing on the opposite side from me, standing next to a girl with bright red hair that was filled with curls. That must be Myra. Even from a distance, she looked pretty. But by Richard's expression I could tell he wasn't enjoying himself.

The night went off to a very dull start. I did enjoy looking as the range of masks that were there. Some of my favorites were the ones that I thought Violet would enjoy. There was a purple one that had gold feathers on one side of it, with a little butterfly design all over it. Another was a pale blue that had a moving cloud design on it, with little birds flying on it every once in awhile. My favorite one was white with black and red ribbons that wrapped around it. I didn't know which family member wore that, but their black hair flew out behind them as they turned and their red lips laughed brightly. If only I knew who it was. Perhaps I would be able to find someone in my family who I enjoyed being around.

No one had asked me to dance, so I found myself standing awkwardly by myself while Kathryn got asked to dance over and over again by people. I had lost track of time, and was seriously considering going back to my room, when everyone was shushed. There was a very loud voice that went "The only child of the Shaw's, who's coming of age we celebrate tonight! Mason Luther Shaw!"

Mason stepped into the room. His clothes and mask were dark, making his eyes stand out even more as they scanned the crowd. I quickly jumped back, so that I was hidden by the pillar, but still able to see him. The room thundered with applause as he stepped into the center of the room. The music started back up as he lead a group dance that only those over age could partake in. I could even see my father dancing. The song ended and everyone went back to their original conversations. I still stood by myself, as Kathryn was dancing with another person soon enough.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" I froze as I heard Mason beside me.

**VIOLET'S POV**

"Don't worry, I'll tell her for you. Now you go back to your room." He gently nudged me, signaling me to stand up. "I've got to go find him now."

I decided to block his path. "I'm not letting you go punch him without me there to see it!"

He laughed as he stood up. "Very well. Let's go find him."

We walked together, his arm around me, holding me close. It was really nice to have someone acting as my big brother.

I was the one to spot Scorpius lying on the ground next to the lake. He seemed to be sleeping.

"Get up." James' voice was stiff as he stopped next to him. Scorpius opened his eyes and raised one eyebrow.

"What do you want?"

"Why did you do it? Just answer that."

He pushed himself up so that he was sitting. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I poked my head out from around James' body. Scorpius's face turned into a smirk as he recognized me. "Oh look, you have the idiot with you."

I saw James' fists clench. Through gritted teeth he said, "Scorpius. Why. did. you. do. it?"

He sneered. "Because she deserves it."

James was practically yelling as he spoke. "How could she have _possibly _deserved it? What has she ever done to you?"

Scorpius stood up and leaned forward so that he was in James' face. "She existed."

James couldn't take it anymore. He stepped back and punched Scorpius in the face as hard as he could. Scorpius fell to the ground, clutching his eye while yelling in pain.

**A/N: Happy Easter everyone! Hunter and I decided to gift you with an extra long chapter. Along with this chapter came many near-incidents of crying, one argument, and many comments about what we wrote. It may have been me that was close to crying..**

_**I just sat there and laughed. **_

**Yes.. she was so comforting..**

_**I was the one writing most of it; it was so much fun.**_

**Only because I couldn't have the emotional ability to write them. But I am now proud of you people! We are up to... five people reading! That's two more than last chapter! But still no reviews. -sigh-**

_**People are reading; that's the most important part. Thank you to those who are reading this. It means a lot.**_

**It does! And no one bothered to answer the question so it is not dedicated to anyone.**

_**I love how we talk just like our characters would in real life. Isn't Mason such a creepy cousin? It creeped Angel out so much.**_


	6. Tick Tock

**VIOLET'S POV**

A small crowd began to form around all of us. Scorpius was still yelling in pain, and I took the opportunity to hug James again.

"That was awesome James!" It was truly, one of the best things I had ever seen. I watched as Scorpius finally _shut up_ and got to his feet.

"My father will hear about this James! You'll regret that!" He sounded so angry. It was kind of funny.

"Funny, I remember your dad saying that to my dad when they were in school together. Yet, if my memory is right, nothing happened to him. In fact, he even saved your dad's butt when he needed it." James' comeback was so quick, everyone that was around us all started laughing.

Scorpius was about to say something when Headmistress McGonagall and other teachers walked up.

"What on earth is going on over here?!" the Headmistress seemed angry, but there was something in her eyes that made me curious. She seemed more angry at Scorpius then she did at James. Perks of being in her former house or having your father be one of her favorite students, I guess.

Both James and Scorpius began to angrily speak in response. The Headmistress held up her hand and they were both instantly shushed. "Now, who can tell me what is going on?"

I stepped out from behind James again. Clearing my throat, she turned to me. "Um. I guess this was all my fault. Well no, not my fault but his fault." I pointed at Scorpius, who sneered at me. "I can explain it all. Can we just do it in.. um.. a private place?"

She smiled at me. "Of course. Scorpius, James, Violet; come to my office."

We all walked to her office, me and James on the left side of her and Scorpius on the other. I was getting incredibly nervous; what had I gotten us into? I didn't want to get in trouble!

The entrance to her office looked amazing; it was green and orange curtains arranged in the shape of a door that shimmered when you touched them. From far away the curtains looked as if they weren't there, but when the Headmistress whispered a spell they showed up. She told James and Scorpius to wait out in the hallway with Professor Noble and asked me to go in first.

Inside her office was a collection of many things; everything the orange and green color theme. There were many lamps that looked like a genie would come out of them if you rubbed them. I saw many pictures, ranging from students to headmasters, family to places, anything. There was a spot in the corner of the room that was dedicated to the lives that were lost during the Battle of Hogwarts. I saw her waiting for me to finish looking at her office by her desk. She gestured me to sit down, so I did.

"Now, Miss Langston, please tell me what happened. Nothing you say here will be known elsewhere unless you wish it."

I nodded. "Um.. well. You see, for whatever reason Scorpius doesn't like me. He's made it clear to me by taunting me before. Today, when I was on the way to the Great Hall, he kind of.. um.." I trailed off. I didn't quite know how to put it.

"Take your time dear." She smiled kindly at me.

"He sort of um... deliberately tried to make me cry by saying many hateful things towards me." I lowered my head, not wanting to look her in the eye.

"Is it possible that you could tell me what one of these things was?"

"Um. It was things like, 'I hate you, everyone hates you, you're a stupid half-blood, no one wants you here, you're too childish, you do everything wrong, even Melissa hates you'. I told James and he comforted me and then he went to go punch Scorpius about what he did." Tears began to spring to my eyes again and I quickly wiped them away.

A glass of water slid so that it was in my vision and I quickly took it and gulped it down. "Thank you Violet. You may go wait outside now. I want to speak to Scorpius and James alone."

**MELISSA'S POV**

"Yes." My voice was quiet as I kept myself turned away from Mason. He lightly pulled my arm to make me turn towards him. Even if he was pulling lightly, his grip was strong.

"Hey, why are you turned away from me?" He paused, as he pointed up. "This is one of my favorite songs. Would you care to dance with me?"

I looked over at my father, fear clearly shown in my face. He slowly nodded. I looked over at Richard, who wasn't paying attention. I desperately hoped he was; he could get me out of this dilemma. All he had to do was run over to my father and make him stop letting me dance with Mason. But he was only laughing at Myra. I sighed, realizing that there was no way of me getting out of this.

"I'll dance with you Mason." I really didn't want to though. I would rather be in my room doing nothing than dance with him. He smiled though and took my hand to lead me to the center of the room. Everyone made an area for us so that we were at the center of everyone's attention. The dance was incredibly awkward for me; my shortness compared to his tallness was astoundingly enormous.

"So, are you enjoying this dance with me?" Mason was staring into my eyes. I had to look up so that I wouldn't find myself staring at the bottom on his chest. If only I was a small amount taller.

"Mhm." I wanted to have as little conversation with him as possible. The dance seemed to drag on forever, but finally the song ended. Instead of separating he pulled me along somewhere.

"Where are you taking me?" I was panicking. I didn't want to be anywhere alone with him. But when I tried to catch my father's or Richard's eye I couldn't find them.

"You'll see. Just you wait and find out." His eyes started penetrating mine once again. I found that he was taking me outside of the ballroom, where there was no one else there.

"Now. I can finally talk to you." He didn't drop my arm. I tried to squirm away, but he only tightened his grip. "Why are you trying to run?"

"Please let me go." I was incredibly scared; I think I was having a panic attack.

"Melissa? Where are you? Melissa?" I heard Richard's voice get increasingly louder as he seemed to get closer.

"Huh. Seems like I'm not the only person that wants to be alone with you." He moved his face lower so that it was closer to mine. "We'll just have to do this quickly then."

"Wha-what are you doing?!" I was struggling to get away as much as I could. I saw his lips purse, his eyes close as he pulled me closer to him. I was freaking out. I couldn't fight his strength. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to be away from him.

"Melissa! Mason? MASON?!" I saw Richard out of the corner of my eye. He looked furious. Mason quickly pulled away from me.

"Richard. Didn't expect to see you here." He didn't step away.

Richard's arm pulled me from behind. I was suddenly so glad I was so small; his height protected me from Mason. Now that Mason couldn't see me maybe he would leave me alone.

"Get away from my sister you creep. I am telling my father. You will never be able to see her again." Richard let his hand fall from my arm, but he kept beside me as he helped me up the stairs. I could still feel Mason's eyes on me.

As soon as we turned the hallway and we were out of Mason's view Richard pulled me into his arms. I tried to stop myself from crying, but I couldn't help myself. He gently pulled my mask off and threw it to the side before he began to rub my hair. "He's not going to go near you anymore. You're safe now. I won't let anyone do that to you ever again."

He kissed the top of my head. "It's late. Why don't I bring you to bed?" I nodded against his chest. Richard led me to my room, waiting outside while I changed before coming in and sitting on the bed while I climbed in. "I'm going to go tell Father what happened. Do you want me to tell Mother to come?"

I hadn't seen her in so long. I nodded. Richard smiled and stood back up. He rubbed my hair before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. I collapsed onto the pillows, rubbing my eyes.

"Melissa?" A sliver of light hit me and I blinked myself awake. My mother's figure stood in the opening, one hand on the door. "Are you awake?"

"Yes." She smiled and came closer, sitting down next to me and pulling me into her arms.

"Richard told your father and he exploded in the center of the party. Mason won't be allowed to see you anymore. He is going to be watched very carefully by his father and he will be strictly disciplined." She pulled away and brushed a bit of hair from my face. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Embarrased. Tired."

"There is no reason you should feel embarrassed dear. This was all Mason's fault." She kissed the top of my head again. "Now go back to sleep. I'll come have breakfast with you in the morning."

**VIOLET'S POV**

I sat down outside of her office on a little bench. James and Scorpius went in as soon as I sat down. I swung my legs back and forth on the bench, trying to entertain myself the best I could. Professor Noble left, and was replaced with one of the new teachers. Professor Martsworth stared down at me the whole time, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I generally didn't enjoy his class only because he scared me.

"Violet Langston. You don't usually speak in my class. I'm surprised to see you dealing with a situation like this." His voice was one of the deepest I have ever heard before.

My legs stopped swinging as I replied, "Um. Yeah. I just hope I don't get in trouble." My voice was quieter than it usually is; this guy really scared me.

"If I know anything about you, you spoke the truth. Unless the judge is flawed, the truth will always win."

"Um. Yeah. I guess so."

"Would you like to hear what they are saying in there?"

My eyes widened as I turned to him. "You can _do _that? Um... sure I guess."

He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small bundle, which he unwrapped on his lap. There was an ear in his hand, with a string wrapped around it. "When I was in Hogwarts, two of the students were selling these. I've kept one over the years." He leaned down and slid it through the crack under the door, handing the string to me. I took the string in my hand, a little unsure about what it would do. Once I took it though, I was able to hear everything that was happening inside the office.

"I am ashamed of you Mr. Malfoy. Completely and utterly ashamed. I thought you might have taken after your mother, who was always so kind. But it seems that you are following the same path your father did while at this school. I can only hope you have the same outcome; a better man."

"I'm sorry Headmistress."

"And you, Mr. Potter. Violence is never justifiable for any occurrence, even if the reason was for good. Next time, come to any teacher first. We would have been able to deal with it." I heard high heels clicking on the stone floor. They seemed to get louder and louder. Before I could figure out what was going on. I saw the door swing open with the Headmistress holding the ear in her hand. I quickly dropped the other side of the string and tried not to look guilty.

"I remember this magic." She handed it back to me. "Treat it with care."

"Um it's not mine, I mean I don't know where it came from.." I have no idea why I was still so nervous! I usually never act this way, even around teachers.

Professor Martsworth stood, raising one hand slightly. "It's mine, Professor. From my school years." He took it from my hand. "I'm sorry."

She only smiled. "Take good care of it. I haven't seen one around in a long time." She turned back to James and Scorpius. "You are dismissed. Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, both of you have earned detention. Mr. Malfoy, yours will be longer considering the events that have happened."

Both of them nodded before she stepped aside and let them pass. Scorpius walked past first, his head held high. Our eyes met for a second. He sneered. I stuck my tongue out at him in response. James walked out soon after and gave me a big hug. "Are you feeling better now?"

I nodded as we walked away from the Headmistress' office. "But what about you? You have a detention. You said you wouldn't get in trouble. It's all my fault that you got in trouble."

He only laughed. "Do you know how many detentions I've had over the years? My dad says I'm taking after my grandfather."

I laughed. "Aren't you _named _after him? What do you have to do in detention? I've never had one before."

"You've never had a detention in your life? Trust me, if you stay around my family enough you'll have one eventually. If you don't, I'll just blame you for something."

"Hey!" I lightly punched him in the arm. "It's only a few weeks into the school year; I plan to have at least one detention-free year here. Preferably my first. After that it's fair game."

He rubbed my hair again. "I'll give you this year off. After that you're becoming my apprentice in pranking and mischief."

I thought for a moment. "I think I would be good at that. Hey James?"

"Yeah?"

"I've got the most random and personal question to ask you. But in advance, I don't mean it like I want to."

He smiled. "Sure sis. What is it?"

"Do you have a girlfriend? Or are you just a lonely lonely James? I've never had a boyfriend. What's it like? I feel like I'm too young for one."

He stopped walking for a second. He burst out laughing. "Are you serious? Yes I have a girlfriend. I am not a lonely lonely James." He blushed. "Her name's London. We've been 'official' for about..hmm.. eleven months now? Yeah eleven months. We'll be hitting one year October 31st."

I squealed. "Oh my gosh! You've been dating a girl for almost a _year_! That's so adorable! What color are her eyes? How tall is she? How'd you meet her? What was your first date with her like? Have you met her parents? Oh my gosh this is so adorable!"  
"She has brown eyes with really long eyelashes. Pretty tall; my height. We ran into each other on the train last year. We went to Hogsmeade together the first chance we could. Our parents met this summer. They loved me. Not like that, but.. oh you know what I mean."

"Hey James?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going?"

We both paused and James looked curiously above my head. I did the same, only lower. The corridor we were in looked different than any I had seen before.

"Also, where are we?"

There was a playful smile on his face. "No idea where we are. But I do know where we should end up; the Great Hall. I'm hungry."

I sighed. "So this is what life is like with you isn't it? It's about dinner time isn't it?"

He grabbed my wrist. "Run." He flashed a smile. "I'm hungry."

So we ran. We ran down a ton of hallways, just randomly choosing which way to turn. Somehow, we magically (no pun intended) got to the Great Hall right before they were about to close for the night. We somehow managed to run in, grab a plate, pile food on it, and run out of the Great Hall.

"Um... where are we supposed to eat James?"

"Let's go sit under the tree that I first met you at. The one you fell out of."

I laughed, remembering how I almost broke my arm. We walked over there, sat down, and began to eat our food. There wasn't much talk; we were both too busy eating to have a conversation. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure walking towards us. I looked up to see who it was, and I was shocked to see Scorpius walking over to us.

He sat down in front of us, sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms supporting him behind. It was unsettling to have his cold eyes stare at us while we ate. That's all he would do; stare at us.

I whispered to James, "What's he doing here? He's kind of creeping me out."

"Just ignore him. Tell me why you want to be a Seeker." He continued to eat his food, pretending as if Scorpius wasn't there.

"Um.. okay. Well, I just think that they're the most important people. They get to be the stars of the show! It's all on them for if their team wins or not. It's amazing. They also have to be good at seeing small, little fast things. Which I'm good at. I just also don't find the other positions that interesting. I just hope I make the team next year; I'm afraid that I won't make it."

He rubbed my hair. "You look like a Seeker. I know you'll get on the team."

I shrugged. "I dunno. I'll try. Can we go flying now?"

"Tomorrow morning. It's getting dark."

"Okay. I'm going to go ahead and go to sleep then. Good night James! Um. Good night Scorpius." I saw his eyes flicker up and stare at mine when I told him goodnight. Jump running to my common-room, I thought about those eyes. They seemed to penetrate my thoughts.

I quickly got ready for bed and was curled up next to Snowball within minutes. After everything that had happened during the day, I was exhausted. I fell asleep almost instantly.

It was dark. Once again. Like that other dream I had. Except this time, I had a torch in my hand. I flicked it on, and it shone brightly so that I could see where I was. I shone my torch all around, until I heard a noise. It sounded far away, so naturally I started running towards it. I reached the sound in a couple minutes.

"Violet?!"

"Melissa?! Why are you here?!" How in the world could Melissa be in my dream again? This was so exciting!

"How are you here again?" she poked my stomach. "You are real, aren't you?"

"Hey!" I poked her back. "Of course I'm real. This is _my _dream. Now, I don't feel like discussing this right now, so let's go exploring! I have a torch! We can see things better!"

"This is my dream; what are you talking about?"

"I'll deal with you later. Let's go exploring!" I was too excited to even care about her comment. She was just being who she usually is; worried and confusing.

"Wait!" She grabbed my arm. "We have to be careful about this."

I shook her arm off. "Nah. C'mon. I think I see something over there!" I started running towards the spot where I saw something. I could hear Melissa's steps following behind me.

"Oh hey Violet!" Somehow Lance appeared there. So did the entire school. We were in the Great Hall, in front of all of the tables with each student there. I turned around, but Melissa was gone. I scanned the Slytherin table for her face, but she wasn't there.

"Um. Hi Lance. If we're going to talk, can we go somewhere else? This is a little weird just standing here in front of everyone." I started to shuffle away. Lance grabbed my arm and made me stay where we were.

"No. I've got to ask you something. Right now. Right here."  
"Are you sure? Because I mean, we could do this you know, in the common room?"

"No. Violet, I have admired you from up close, getting to know your personality. You are the most amazing person I know, and I think I'm in love with you. Violet Langston, would you take me to be your beloved boyfriend?" At that moment I saw flower petals drop in a big heap nearby us, with a chorus singing nearby. I could feel my face turning bright red.

"Lance... what on earth are you talking about?" I wanted to get out of there. I felt so completely embarrassed.

"Why, I'm just confessing my utter love for you!" I could hear the laughter in the Great Hall grow louder and louder. I could almost all of the Slytherins mocking us. I could even see James mocking me.

I wanted this to end. This had to be just a cruel joke. I mustered all of the energy I could and just screamed. As soon as I did everything stopped and turned completely dark.

**MELISSA'S POV**

Violet's light shone in front of me as I followed her. But no matter how fast I walked, she seemed to be getting further and further away from me. Soon I was in darkness again, alone. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself and waiting for the faceless figures to come again.

Music started playing from somewhere and I spun rapidly to try and find out where. While spinning, I found myself also wearing a dress. It looked like something I would wear to a coming of age party. A mirror appeared next to me, and I looked into it. I didn't look how I normally did; I was somehow... older? I looked like I was 22. What was going on?

I looked to my right, only to find Scorpius standing there. He had a smug look on his face, with one hand offered to me. I saw Father staring at me, nodding his head. He looked older too. Everyone looked older. Richard was standing to the side next to Myra, hand in hand. I awkwardly took his hand and we started dancing. Everyone in my close family was watching us, making the whole thing even more awkward.

"So. Melissa. How are you enjoying this dance with yours truly?"

"Um."

"Are you unhappy dear? Did I do something to upset you? We have been married for about a year now. If I have done something to upset you recently, I want to know so that I can fix it and our relationship can continue happily."

That didn't sound like Scorpius at all. He would never care how I felt; that wasn't who he was.

"Um."

"Dear, say something other than 'um'. I love to hear you speak."

"Wait, we're married?!" I did not want to be married to him. Someone else. But never in a million years _him_.

He had a confused and sad expression on his face. It was slightly adorable. "What are you talking about? Of course we're married."

"What?! No! No no no! This isn't possible!"  
I saw his face look conflicted with emotions. "Maybe this would remind you of us."  
I saw him lean in to kiss me. "What are you doing?!" I was incredibly angry as I shoved him backwards. "Don't you EVER do that to me again, you creep!"  
Everything faded away. Everything turned black.

The light slowly started to fade in again and I looked at my surroundings. I was back where I was the first time I came here; an empty, dark room. At least before I had Violet for company.

"Tick tock goes the clock.

Twenty dreams left until the sand runs dry

And death will follow the ones who fall

To a deep and painful end.

"Tick tock goes the clock.

The time is running fast.

Soon you'll be alone again,

Fighting through the dark.

"Tick tock goes the clock.

Puzzles formed from fears and woes

To fight and solve until your body breaks

And you fall to the end.

"Tick tock goes the clock.

When you fall you never wake,

Trapped in the world you try to escape

With flailing arms and crying words.

"Tick tock goes the clock.

Twenty dreams left until the sand runs dry

And death will follow the ones who fall

To a deep and painful end."

**A/N: Hello everyone that's reading our story! Did you enjoy this chapter? Including creepy Cousin Mason? -shudder-**

_**Mason is such a fun character to write; just because he is so creepy. I always get shivers.**_

**Yeah... He's creepy. And what do you think about James? Good or bad character? We seriously need this feedback. PLEASE REVIEW THIS!**

_**I mainly just want to know if we're making James too perfect (one of my major worries). Actually, just tell us what you think about all of the characters. We want to make this story the best it can be.**_

**We'll fix any problems in the next chapter But we won't post unless we get ONE review. Just one is all we ask! Could you do that for us?**

_**Please?**_

**Just remember this: One review. Suggestions. Problems. Questions. Bye!**

_**Have fun in your life!**_


	7. Broken Minds and Broken Bones

**MELISSA'S POV**

I shot up sitting. I could feel my heart racing inside me and I was clutching the blanket. I had to consciously tell myself to let go. It wasn't the dream; that had only been strange. But the poem...I hated that. It felt strange, foreboding, worrying. Why would I have thought it up? What was my mind trying to tell me?

There was a knock on the door. I jumped, only to remember what my mother had said the night before. She was coming for breakfast.

"Come in." The door opened and Mother came in carrying a tray of food. Her soft blonde hair was pulled over her right shoulder, the natural waves drifting against her arm. But the moment she saw me her eyes narrowed.

"What's wrong dear?" Only Mother would notice that there was something wrong with me. Father wouldn't care and Richard wouldn't say a single thing.

"I had a bad dream."

She sat on the edge of her bed, resting the tray on the ground by her feet. "Do you want to walk about it?"

I shook my head. "Not really. It's silly. Just a dream."

Mother smiled, leaning down so that she could get the tray. "I got your favorite."

I looked down at the tray that she had brought in for the first time. On it I saw an omelette that had chives, a ton of cheese, and a little bit of bacon in it. There was also buttered toast and a glass of orange juice. I looked back up at her and smiled. "Thanks." I began to start eating as she asked me questions about anything; school, friends, books, anything. She seemed happy when I told her about Violet, Hugo and Albus. I had never had any friends before Hogwarts, so it was impressive that I had any so soon. We stayed like that all morning, until the clock chimed and told us it was eleven o'clock. I heard Mother sigh as she squeezed my hand.

"It's time for you to get back to Hogwarts. Send me an owl when you get there, okay? And a letter every once in awhile would be nice too."

I smiled. "Of course Mother." I was both sad and happy. Sad that I had to leave Mother, happy that I get to be as far away from Mason as possible, and happy because I get to see my friends again. Mother walked out so I could get all of my belongings together. Just when I was about done, I heard a knock on the door.

Without looking up, I said "Come in."

I wish I hadn't.

**VIOLET'S POV**

I woke up, clutching my blanket. What was Melissa doing in my dream again? What in the world was with Lance? I brought my hand to my head, trying to forget the dream. Trying not to think about it, I quickly got ready. I think James and I had planned for a redo flying day. Practically running downstairs, I suddenly stopped as soon as I saw Lance. He smiled at me, and started getting up.

"Hey Violet. I've got something to tell you. I bet you'll like it."

My eyes widened as he finished. I whispered, "No. This can't be happening. That is impossible."

He looked confused. "What are you talking about Violet? Look, I wanted to ask you something."

I backed against the wall. "No Lance. No. No. Never. This can't be happening." I just kept on telling him that, while staring at him until I was out of the common room. I heard him call out to me, but I didn't want to listen. It was too much like my dream. It creeped me out.

"Violet?" I turned to see James looking quizzically at me, one hand running through his hair.

"James? What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Looking for you."

"Why?"

He began to rub his hands together, shifting on his feet. "London and I had a fight."

I crossed my arms. "You two are not allowed to fight. No excuses. What did you do?"

James raised his hands in defense. "I didn't do anything!"

I gave him a distrustful look. "No, you had to have done something wrong. So what did you do?"

He looked shameful. "She was yelling about how I haven't talked to her for a while."

I sighed. "James...how long has it been since you've talked to her?"

He ran his hand through his hair again. "Since halfway through the summer?"

"James! That's horrible! No wonder she feels that way!"

"I don't need you to be mad at me too!"

"I'm not mad! Just siding with London!" I slowly started to smile. "Now, you need to make it up to her. And I have an idea."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well first of all, get your BUTT over there and apologize." I pointed in the general direction of where the Great Hall was.

"But she's mad at me. She told me to go away. What if she doesn't want to see me or talk to me?"

"Well, you're just going to have to get her flowers then. Girls love flowers." I gestured to his wand. "I'm assuming you can make some? Anyways, then you are going to ask her on a date. A date that I am planning. A date that you will have no idea what is going to happen because then you'll try and help and just generally mess everything up."

He brightened up. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll go do that right now."

"Good. Now, if you do a terrible job of apologizing, then that's your fault. Good luck! Oh and the date is going to be tomorrow night."

"Thank you so much Violet."

"Now get out of here you big dummy! I need to plan!" James hurried off towards the Great Hall, and I made my way to our tree. I climbed up it and started working. I would need to plan out what they would do, where they would do it, and what all would be there. And how to do all of it. I'm not sure how long I was up there for; since it was Sunday, there were no classes. I had somehow gotten all of my homework done on Saturday, so I didn't have to worry about that at all. I was debating between two dates when I heard leaves rustling behind me. I slowly turned around, not quite sure what I would find.

"Violet! There you are!"

I shrieked, and lost my balance. Naturally, I fell out of the tree.

"Oh my gosh are you okay?" I felt a hand on my arm and someone pulled me standing. I looked up and found that it was James.

"Well, I was but then I fell out of a tree. My arm is a little sore but other than that, yes, I'm fine."

He looked me over before pulling me into a hug. "Thank you so much for helping with London."

I struggled for breath. "C-c-can't breathe! C-c-can't breathe!"

He laughed as he let go. "She accepted the flowers! She's excited for tomorrow! Let's go flying!"

"Um. Okay. Why are we suddenly going flying?"

James gave no answer. Instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the shed where they stored spare brooms. He grabbed two and threw one two me, which I easily caught.

"C'mon. Last one up there owes the other a Chocolate Frog!"

"Hey no fair! This is only the second time I've flown!" Nevertheless, I mounted and pushed off of the ground. I was instantly among the clouds. I had to search through them to find where James was. I suddenly realized that James was much, much, much lower than I was. I quickly dropped down to about the same distance off the ground that he was at.

"You went high."

I nodded. "It does that."

"You ready to learn?" He was somehow staying level in the air, while I was bobbing up and down slightly.

I nodded. "Yup. Oh, you owe me a Chocolate Frog too."

He glared at me before smiling again. "Okay. The first step is how to start flying. Clearly you've already figured that out slightly, but how do you start moving from the middle of the air? Where there is nothing to push off of?"

I looked down at my broomstick. "Um. Like this?" I leaned forward, to see that my broomstick jumped forward.

He nodded. "Exactly. But smoother. Like this?" James leaned forward and I watched as he smoothly began moving forward, instead of jumping like I had.

I tried again, this time the jumping a little bit less than the first time.

"Amazing! Try again." So I did. I kept on trying until I was able to fly forwards and backwards just as smoothly as James.

"See, I told you that you were a natural."

"Yeah, I guess."

It turned out flying was a lot more difficult and complicated than I thought. Going forward and backwards was easy enough, but going fast, slow, up, down, in a circle, stopping and starting was a lot harder. I nearly fell every few minutes. Thankfully, James was able to fly fast enough to help steady me. When we broke for lunch I found it very difficult to walk without falling over.

Once we were done with lunch, we headed back over to where we put our brooms.

"Ready for the final flying lesson for today?"

I nodded. "What is it?"

"A race."

I began bouncing up and down with my excitement. "That sounds amazing!"

He grinned. "The course is this: Around the Quidditch Pitch two times then a final circle around that tree. Ready?"

I nodded. "Ready. But are you ready to lose?"

"Only if you are!"

I mounted my broom, excitement clearly shown on my face. I tried to hide it with a serious face, but judging by James' laughter, I was doing a very bad job at it.

"Calm down. Otherwise, your broom might head in a direction you're not prepared for. Or you could just fall of."

I tried as hard as I could to calm down. The broom stopped bobbing after about a minute or so.

"Ready?"

I nodded.

"Okay... Three...Two...One...Go!"

Then we were off.

He was a bit faster than me, probably just from experience, but I was close behind him. I was right behind him as we reached the Quidditch Pitch. We went around it two times, and for a moment, I was in front of him. His facial reaction was hilarious. Then, naturally, he quickly sped up so he could be in front of me. I sped as quickly as I could to the tree, but I realized then how quickly I was going. I tried to slow down as fast as I could, but realized I pulled back too hard. My broom left my hands. I started falling. As I hit the ground, the last thing I saw was James flying as fast as he could over to me, a terrified expression on his face. Everything faded away as I turned to my arm, which was twisted in a way I know isn't possible.

**MELISSA'S POV**

"Why hello my dear Melissa. Haven't seen you in a bit, now have I?"

I slowly lifted my head. That voice should not be in my room. That voice should not be anywhere near me.

"You aren't supposed to be here. Get out of my room."

Mason smirked. "Well, I'm not going anywhere. You can't tell me what to do." He stepped forward. "I enjoyed last night. However, it was cut short. I came here to finish what I started."

I took a step back. "I didn't enjoy it. Get away from me you monster, right now, or I'll scream."

He stepped even closer so that I was pressed against the wall. His hands were on either side of my head, trapping me in place. "Now, why would you do a silly thing like that? I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay calm, and let your true feelings for me come out."

I struggled as hard as I could to get out of his grip, but it was too strong for me. Mason brought his head close to mine, and looked deeply into my eyes. It was then that I realized how dark his eyes were. They were almost black.

"Just close your eyes." He whispered that to me, over and over again until his mouth was on mine. I struggled to get away as hard as I could, but it wasn't working. I tried to scream but no sound was coming out. I soon realized that struggling was pointless, and just let go. I stopped fighting. My arms and legs went loose, my body limp. All while this was happening, Mason kept on kissing me.

I didn't even realized what happened next.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" Mason quickly pulled away. I fell to the ground, completely defeated.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" My mind somehow recognized that the voice was my father's. I curled up into a ball, too ashamed to face him.

"Hello Mr. Brook." Mason's voice was close to me. He hadn't moved very far away. There was a cracking noise and a cry of pain from Mason. Someone pulled me standing and into their arms.

"It's going to be okay now Melissa. I will protect you. He won't touch you again." Father was stroking my hair. He pulled me out of my room, keeping me turned away from Mason. He was still whimpering.

"Anthony? What happened?" I heard my mother. Slowly, my father separated me from him and led me over to my mother. "Melissa?"

"It was Mason." Mother tensed. She clutched me to her tightly. "Keep watch over her while I deal with him."

Father stormed away and Mother led me towards the kitchen. She kept me held close to her, stroking my hair. Apparently there had been desserts at the party, since there was a plate of cookies sitting on the kitchen counter. Mother sat me at the table before bringing the plate with her. She handed me one and instructed me to eat.

"Your father is going to take care of it. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm so ashamed."

She took my hand. "There is nothing to be ashamed of. This isn't your fault."

"But Mother, I just let it happen."

"He is a 17 year old that is so much bigger and stronger than you, who also should have known better. You are 11. There was physically no way you could have fought him."

"I know. But I feel horrible."

"I know. But remember; this isn't your fault."

I fell into her arms. "It was so horrible." I couldn't stop crying, for whatever reason.

She held me tight. "I know. Just cry it out." She stroked my hair until I finally stopped, but I didn't pull away from her. I wanted her to protect me, even though I knew she would never be able to. Protection would always be left to Father or Richard.

"Here, why don't you tell me about some books you've been reading?" Mother always knew what would calm me down for a bit. Books seem to always be my savior.

"I've been reading Shakespeare. I just finished reading A Midsummer's Night Dream. It was amazing."

"Why don't you tell me about it? And eat that cookie. You've hardly eaten anything today."

I nodded, and started nibbling on the cookie while I explained all of the magic involved with his play. All of the faeries, the love, the happy ending, everything. Mother smiled at me the whole time, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

"It sounds like a lovely book. Here, why don't we go into my room and have you wash your face and get changed?"

I nodded as I stood up. Mother did at the same time. I instantly moved to her side, still worried that Mason might be around. We walked to her room, and I found that a new shirt was waiting for me. Mother closed the door behind us as I ran to the shirt. It was a lavender shade of purple, and was made of the softest material I had ever felt before. I ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "Thank you so much Mother!"

With a laugh she went over and picked the shirt up, handing it to me. "Try it on. I want to be certain it fits." I took it and clutched it to my chest before switching shirts. There was nothing for Mother to be worrying about; the shirt fit perfectly. I was swirling in circles, watching as the shirt waved around me, when there was a knock on the door. Immediately I froze.

"Mother?" Richard's voice reached me. "I can't find Melissa."

With a smile Mother opened the door. "That is because she is in here. I had a gift to give her."

"Hey Melissa." It took him a second to notice the shirt. "Woah. That's pretty."

I swirled one last time. "Thanks. I love it."

Mother shoved me slightly in the back towards Richard. "You two should get going. I believe all your things are already downstairs, so there is no need to worry about that."

I nodded and hugged Mother goodbye. I would really miss her once I got back to Hogwarts.

I saw a different person waiting to take us home this time. Instead of my short and fat uncle, I saw a woman (I presumed she was one of my aunts) who was very tall and skinny. It felt like she was married to the uncle that drove us. It is quite funny, actually. Richard put my suitcase in the trunk, along with his, and we climbed into the carriage. I slumped in my seat, not ready for the long way back to Hogwarts. At least I would be able to see everyone again, and finally be away from Mason.

**VIOLET'S POV**

When I woke up, I saw that I was in the Hospital Wing. I looked to the left and saw James staring at me intently, his face close to mine. He looked as if he hadn't left at all. Naturally, I screamed a little bit. He startled me. I wasn't expecting to see anyone in the room with me. As soon as I made a sound, I saw his face light up. I also saw Madam Pomfrey run into the room.

"Is everything alright?! I heard someone scream!" Madam Pomfrey noticed that I was awake, then seemingly understood what happened. "Oh, Miss Langston, how are you feeling?"

"Um. Alright I guess. What happened?"

"You fell off your broom dear and broke your arm." She gently touched my arm. "How does it feel?"

I looked down and saw that my arm was in a sling with a cast on. I tried moving it slowly, in case movement was painful. I didn't feel any pain. Either Madam Pomfrey fixed my arm with magic, or it was still broken and I was just on some very strong pain reliever. "I don't feel anything wrong with it. Did you fix it with magic or does it need to mend on its own?"

"I used magic to speed up the creation of the temporary bone, but it wasn't safe enough to heal the bone fully since it was a very bad break. You will have to let it heal naturally."

I looked down at my arm again and only then realized how cool all of this was. "This is so cool! I've never broken a bone before! This is a first for me! Oh and can I get people to sign my cast? Not that many people would, but could I? And can I keep the cast? Please? This is awesome! Oh and two more questions: Why can't I feel anything pain-wise, and how long will it take to heal?"

"People can sign your cast; as many as you want since you can keep the cast. The reason you can't feel any pain is because I put a spell on it. However, this means you have to be extra careful with what you do with your arm since you can't tell when you are putting it in stress or not. Because of how bad of a break it was, it will take a few months to heal. You're going to have to come back here every so often to make sure that it's healing correctly." She jotted something down in her notebook. "Also, you're going to have to go through some sort of physical therapy once it is healed to get the strength you would have lost back."

I nodded, and Madam Pomfrey left to go attend to another student who had accidentally turned his cat halfway into a frog. I turned to James, who looked incredibly happy that I was fine with my broken arm. "So, where's the Chocolate Frog?"

"Is that the only thing you're thinking about right now?" But he tossed one to me anyways.

"Not exactly the only thing. But I was just hungry, and you owed me one." I stopped for a moment and tried to figure out what day it was. "James... What day is it?"

"Same day you fell."

"Okay that's good! Because we've got a date to go to!" I paused. "Not like that. Like, you're going on the date, and I'm going to be there in the background in case something horribly wrong happens. Which by the way, I haven't told you anything about yet, now have I?"

He froze. "Wait. You're doing what during the date?"

I sighed, trying to somehow get all of my thoughts out as quickly I could. "So you're going to go on a date with London, starting off at a little area by the lake. There'll be a table for you two with a candle on it, it will be nightish time by then, and you guys will eat a special dinner. Then you will have ice cream. The only problem that could possibly happen is if... well you know, one of you gets pulled under the water by the octopus squid thing. Then you two will go over to the Quidditch Pitch, where you'll watch a Muggle movie called Marley and Me. Be prepared to cry. You'll be able to comfort London. After the movie you'll escort her up to the school, and then give her a dozen roses saying, 'I'm sorry for being such a dimwit. Please forgive me?' And that'll be the date! So, any questions?"

"Um...how did you have time to plan all this out?"

"I sat in a tree."

He seemed to remember. "Oh yeah! When you fell out of the tree."

"Yes. That was the second time I almost broke my arm." I stopped to think for a moment. "Third time really is a charm I guess. Oh and Professor Longbottom helped a bit with getting everything. I asked him about it during my lunch. We spent the entire time figuring out how to get everything."

James laughed. "That's rather frightening that you did all that so quickly. But thank you." He leaned down and gave me a hug.

"Hey hey hey be careful with my arm! And seriously, do you have anything to eat? I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast except for that Chocolate Frog."

He patted his pockets up and down. "I don't think so..." his hands stopped at the bottom of one. "Wait...I think I have something." He pulled a piece of bacon from his pocket and handed it to me. "Here."

I tried to make a disgusted look on my face. "Um... no thanks. Now come on, I want to go get cool signatures!" I struggled to get out of all of my covers, when James just put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down onto my bed.

"No. You need your rest." James looked so serious, it was almost comical.

"Haha nice joke. Now let me up." I struggled to get up again, but he only pushed me down again. "James... let me up. Now. You do not want to see me angry."

"You are not going anywhere. I'll go get things you need, but YOU are not leaving."

"James... I'm giving you one more chance." I clenched the fist on the arm I hadn't broken.

"You aren't allowed to leave, Miss Langston." We both turned our heads to look at Madam Pomfrey. "You have to rest, since you did just fall off a broom."

I unclenched my hand. "But Madam Pomfrey! I have to go make sure that Professor Longbottom has all of the things I need for his date! And eat! Eating is essential for my health!"

"I have food here for you to eat. And I'm certain the planning of Mr. Potter's date can wait another day." Madam Pomfrey shooed James away. "Now you, Mr. Potter, must go eat. Leave Miss Langston to get some rest."

I crossed my arms, clearly not happy with what Madam Pomfrey was telling me to do. My mom always did tell my that I was incredibly stubborn. "Can I at least leave after lunch? I swear I'm not tired. I've already rested for what, an hour? That's a long time! And look, I know to take care of my arm. I already yelled at James for hugging me and my arm. I'm fine! I want to go see everyone and get my cast signed!" At least, I hoped that people would sign my cast. I still hadn't made many friends inside of my house, unless you count Lance as a friend. I suppose he is.

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'll to keep it short and sweet ; we kind of got distracted for a while. But here is the chapter.**

**Yeah...we both kinda forgot about the story. I don't even remember how we remembered.**

**But yeah. Here we are again. No more school (I've got a volunteer job that will last pretty much all July) but we should be able to update more frequently!**

**And I'll be in and out between working on math and writing in a camp or for fun. But we will come back to the story as much as we can! **


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